Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Up 1.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s share price shot up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $92.00 to $97.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Arista Networks traded as high as $88.40 and last traded at $87.39. 2,234,221 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 9,172,432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.45.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total transaction of $159,409.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $870,752.64. This represents a 15.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 51,848 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.59, for a total transaction of $4,593,214.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 412,355 shares of company stock valued at $37,216,079 over the last ninety days. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Caitlin John LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 174.7% in the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 335.1% in 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 last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 179.7% in the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arista Networks Trading Up 1.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $109.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.34, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $78.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.40.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Arista Networks Company Profile

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.