Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Hits New 12-Month High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Arista Networks' stock reached a new 52-week high, trading at $141.75 before closing at $137.65, with a total volume of over 7.8 million shares.
• Analysts have issued multiple upgrades on the stock, with targets raised significantly, including Barclays' target of $151 and Goldman Sachs' target of $155.
• The company's earnings report showed a 30.4% year-over-year revenue increase, reporting $2.20 billion versus analyst expectations of $2.11 billion, alongside a net margin of 40.90%.

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $141.75 and last traded at $137.65, with a volume of 7832657 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $139.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANET has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. KGI Securities lowered shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI set a $150.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.07.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The company's fifty day simple moving average is $108.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.73. The stock has a market cap of $171.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.37.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 40.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 864 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.68, for a total value of $99,083.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,460 shares in the company, valued at $855,512.80. This represents a 10.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.01, for a total transaction of $936,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 57,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,761,305.84. This represents a 12.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,767,742 shares of company stock worth $714,048,068 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bare Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 2,118.2% during the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 244 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in Arista Networks by 381.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 415.7% during the fourth 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. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 108.0% during the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 337 shares of the technology company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. 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.