Arista Networks’ (ANET) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reissued their neutral rating on shares of Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) in a report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $89.00 target price on the technology company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $76.00.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Arista Networks from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.07.

Arista Networks Stock Down 1.3 %

ANET stock opened at $86.15 on Wednesday. Arista Networks has a twelve month low of $59.43 and a twelve month high of $133.58. The company has a market cap of $108.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $78.94 and its 200-day moving average is $97.31.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 8,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $870,752.64. The trade was a 15.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 51,848 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.59, for a total value of $4,593,214.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 412,355 shares of company stock valued at $37,216,079. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Arista Networks by 9.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 339,556 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $130,328,000 after buying an additional 29,006 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in Arista Networks by 324.8% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 2,517 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 440.5% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 27,880 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,082,000 after purchasing an additional 22,722 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its position in Arista Networks by 310.1% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 21,569 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 16,310 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 2,128 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by 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.