Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Given New $125.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has raised its price target for Arista Networks from $120.00 to $125.00 while maintaining an "overweight" rating, indicating a possible downside from the stock's previous close.
• Other research firms have set varying price targets for the stock, with UBS raising theirs to $155.00, while BNP Paribas Exane downgraded it from "outperform" to "neutral" with a $106.00 target.
• Arista Networks reported strong quarterly earnings exceeding expectations with a net margin of 40.72% and a year-over-year revenue increase of 30.4%.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $125.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the technology company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective would indicate a potential downside of 10.36% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ANET. Evercore ISI set a $150.00 price objective on Arista Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Arista Networks from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $130.71.

Arista Networks Price Performance

NYSE ANET traded up $21.32 on Wednesday, hitting $139.44. The company had a trading volume of 19,102,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,651,977. The company has a market capitalization of $175.13 billion, a PE ratio of 58.92, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.37. The company's fifty day moving average price is $102.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.98. Arista Networks has a 12-month low of $59.43 and a 12-month high of $139.50.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.08. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 40.72%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arista Networks will post 2.2 EPS for the current 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 repurchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.19, for a total transaction of $3,335,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,442,801.44. This represents a 69.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 880,180 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.79, for a total value of $109,837,662.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,944,405 shares in the company, valued at $741,802,299.95. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,443,742 shares of company stock valued at $395,523,885. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. HighMark Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 179.7% during the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 381.5% in the fourth 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. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 415.7% during the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other 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.

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