Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $330.00 to $385.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Arista Networks traded as high as $348.92 and last traded at $348.40, with a volume of 263370 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $334.70.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ANET. Jefferies Financial Group raised Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $240.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $313.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $311.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $311.50.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 24,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.28, for a total transaction of $7,014,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,642,800 shares in the company, valued at $480,157,584. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.28, for a total value of $7,014,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,642,800 shares in the company, valued at $480,157,584. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Daniel Scheinman sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.17, for a total transaction of $328,170.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 37,732 shares in the company, valued at $12,382,510.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 212,950 shares of company stock worth $64,987,920. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ANET. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Arista Networks by 872.7% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 3,625.0% in the 4th quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 149 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 155 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $109.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.46, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $299.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $277.65.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.12% and a net margin of 37.64%. Research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.05 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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.