Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Up 2.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 2.3% during trading on Friday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $112.00 to $123.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Arista Networks traded as high as $109.20 and last traded at $108.73. Approximately 3,140,157 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 9,117,418 shares. The stock had previously closed at $106.29.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on ANET. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Wedbush started coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Finally, KGI Securities cut shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $110.07.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total value of $76,663,118.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,072,900. This represents a 96.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.18, for a total transaction of $705,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 123,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,915,273.12. This trade represents a 6.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,123,370 shares of company stock valued at $113,157,408 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ANET. Quarry LP boosted its position in Arista Networks by 381.5% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 415.7% in the 4th 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The company's 50-day moving average price is $95.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.53 billion, a PE ratio of 46.02, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.40.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

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

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.