Needham & Company LLC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) had its price target lowered by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $145.00 to $130.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 42.71% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on ANET. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised shares of Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.43.

Arista Networks Stock Up 0.8 %

ANET stock opened at $91.10 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $114.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.03, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.58. Arista Networks has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $133.58.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Arista Networks will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.49, for a total value of $102,187.08. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $512,305.20. This trade represents a 16.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.58, for a total value of $708,640.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 131,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,673,426.72. This trade represents a 5.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 412,355 shares of company stock valued at $39,259,279 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Caitlin John LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 174.7% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 335.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. HighMark Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.