Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Up 1.7% – Time to Buy?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s stock price shot up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $118.88 and last traded at $118.06. 1,592,253 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 5,762,369 shares. The stock had previously closed at $116.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ANET. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.83.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $150.90 billion, a PE ratio of 57.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day moving average of $107.45 and a 200 day moving average of $96.74.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 40.29%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other news, insider John F. Mccool sold 288 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.70, for a total value of $31,305.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.47, for a total value of $9,477,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,266.72. The trade was a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 345,316 shares of company stock worth $37,761,976 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ANET. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Arista Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in Arista Networks by 28.2% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 132 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 2,133.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 134 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 186.0% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 143 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.