Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Up 1.4% – Here’s Why

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s stock price was up 1.4% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $113.97 and last traded at $113.40. Approximately 861,429 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 2,737,767 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ANET shares. StockNews.com downgraded Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $96.25 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.25 price objective (up from $86.25) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, November 8th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.70.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $145.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.38, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.81.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.29% and a return on equity of 30.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 3,328 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.35, for a total transaction of $330,628.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 70,724 shares in the company, valued at $7,026,252.59. This trade represents a 4.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total transaction of $7,893,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,280,374.36. The trade was a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 337,316 shares of company stock valued at $35,286,096. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,760 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,289,000 after purchasing an additional 22,320 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 376.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 22,860 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,527,000 after buying an additional 18,064 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 514.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,408 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 304.0% during the 4th quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 5,110 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 3,845 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 339,556 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $130,328,000 after purchasing an additional 29,006 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

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.