Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Cut to Neutral at BNP Paribas Exane

BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. BNP Paribas Exane currently has $106.00 target price on the technology company's stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wedbush initiated coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC began coverage on Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.38.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of ANET stock traded up $2.92 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $97.13. The company had a trading volume of 4,041,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,059,929. Arista Networks has a 12 month low of $59.43 and a 12 month high of $133.58. The firm's fifty day moving average is $84.81 and its 200 day moving average is $96.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.75, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.37.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. The business's revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Arista Networks will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.07, for a total value of $7,205,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,168,748.32. The trade was a 86.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.18, for a total transaction of $705,440.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 123,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,915,273.12. This represents a 6.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 105,690 shares of company stock valued at $9,360,205. Company insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ANET. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Arista Networks by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,856,933 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,581,955,000 after acquiring an additional 1,771,982 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 330.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,648,129 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,371,848,000 after purchasing an additional 44,269,572 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 277.5% during the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,288,583 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,016,207,000 after purchasing an additional 20,059,303 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Arista Networks by 311.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,665,829,000 after purchasing an additional 18,293,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Arista Networks by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 22,959,214 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,778,880,000 after buying an additional 1,889,198 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.