Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Up 0.5%

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) shot up 0.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $326.06 and last traded at $321.82. 382,348 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 2,526,741 shares. The stock had previously closed at $320.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $240.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $306.00 to $349.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Arista Networks from $297.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $293.00.

Arista Networks Stock Down 0.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $100.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.82, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.13. The business's 50 day moving average is $283.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $256.53.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The technology company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 37.64% and a return on equity of 31.12%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.00, for a total transaction of $7,925,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,615,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $512,208,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.00, for a total value of $7,925,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,615,800 shares in the company, valued at $512,208,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 356 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.91, for a total transaction of $97,867.96. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $706,518.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 386,018 shares of company stock worth $112,232,499 in the last ninety days. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 5,204.0% during the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,357 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,553,000 after acquiring an additional 5,256 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the technology company's stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 36,461 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $10,573,000 after buying an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 62.1% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 33,672 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $9,763,000 after buying an additional 12,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 13.3% in the first quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 10,403 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,017,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.