Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading 1.8% Higher - Here's What Happened

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 1.8% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $80.61 and last traded at $79.74. 3,844,221 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 9,072,279 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Arista Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Erste Group Bank lowered Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Arista Networks from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $118.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.43.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The company's fifty day simple moving average is $80.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.67 billion, a PE ratio of 36.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.30.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.61, for a total transaction of $9,248,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,500,155.36. The trade was a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of the firm'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 directly owns 7,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $512,305.20. This represents a 16.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 412,355 shares of company stock worth $39,446,799 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $123,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Arista Networks in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,752,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $401,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,222,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 37,383 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $14,348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,998 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

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.

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