Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Up 1.6% – Should You Buy?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s share price rose 1.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $133.58 and last traded at $131.14. Approximately 2,686,755 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 6,173,646 shares. The stock had previously closed at $129.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANET has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Arista Networks from $96.25 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.83.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $110.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.16. The company has a market cap of $162.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.08.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.29% and a return on equity of 30.52%. Arista Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.47, for a total transaction of $9,477,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,266.72. This trade represents a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.30, for a total value of $786,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 179,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,671,868.28. This trade represents a 4.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 343,992 shares of company stock valued at $37,634,420. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ANET. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 1,012.0% in the fourth quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

About Arista Networks

Arista Networks, Inc engages in the development, marketing, and sale of data-driven, client to cloud networking solutions for data center, campus, and routing environments in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. Its cloud networking solutions consist of Extensible Operating System (EOS), a publish-subscribe state-sharing networking operating system offered in combination with a set of network applications.