Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading 1.1% Higher – Here’s Why

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) traded up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $110.45 and last traded at $107.70. 4,255,392 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 8,672,491 shares. The stock had previously closed at $106.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on ANET. Citigroup increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $96.25 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.25 price target (up from $86.25) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.83.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $111.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.13 billion, a PE ratio of 55.39, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.08.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 40.29%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 3,328 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.35, for a total value of $330,628.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,252.59. This represents a 4.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.65, for a total value of $825,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,721,666.90. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 331,160 shares of company stock valued at $36,380,165 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 6.9% during the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 417 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC lifted its position in Arista Networks by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 682 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 5,862 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,907 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.