Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading 1.1% Higher - Still a Buy?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 1.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $99.97 and last traded at $100.00. Approximately 1,369,436 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 9,066,185 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on ANET shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Arista Networks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $89.00 price objective (up from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.33.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $128.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.40. The firm's 50-day moving average is $91.90 and its 200-day moving average is $95.50.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total transaction of $76,663,118.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,072,900. This trade represents a 96.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.23, for a total transaction of $2,397,980.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 592,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,637,052. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,115,400 shares of company stock worth $112,364,640. 3.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 381.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.