The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Price Target to $115.00

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $130.00 to $115.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 31.67% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.07.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Arista Networks stock opened at $87.34 on Wednesday. Arista Networks has a fifty-two week low of $59.43 and a fifty-two week high of $133.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $78.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.40. The company has a market capitalization of $109.67 billion, a PE ratio of 39.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total transaction of $12,988,391.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,697,137.08. This trade represents a 59.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 51,848 shares of the company’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 have sold 412,355 shares of company stock worth $37,216,079 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Caitlin John LLC boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 174.7% during the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 335.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 381.5% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 415.7% in the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

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.