Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $107.38.

ANET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.55, for a total transaction of $620,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 139,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,840,249.20. This represents a 5.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.49, for a total transaction of $102,187.08. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,480 shares in the company, valued at $512,305.20. The trade was a 16.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 105,690 shares of company stock worth $9,360,205. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ANET. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 321.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,806 shares of the technology company's stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 5,955 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in Arista Networks by 318.1% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 11,503 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,271,000 after buying an additional 8,752 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 300.4% during the fourth quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 3,900 shares of the technology company's stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 87.7% during the fourth quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 2,284 shares of the technology company's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

ANET traded up $1.45 on Thursday, hitting $95.66. 8,762,480 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,078,108. Arista Networks has a fifty-two week low of $59.43 and a fifty-two week high of $133.58. The business's fifty day moving average is $84.81 and its 200 day moving average is $96.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.37.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released 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. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Arista Networks will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.