Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Up 0.6% – Still a Buy?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s share price was up 0.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $83.54 and last traded at $83.46. Approximately 2,132,071 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 8,556,563 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.97.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on ANET. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.00.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.74. The company has a market capitalization of $104.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.50, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 51,848 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.59, for a total value of $4,593,214.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.47, for a total transaction of $9,477,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,537,266.72. This trade represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 491,001 shares of company stock valued at $49,112,111 over the last three months. 3.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ANET. Caitlin John LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 174.7% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 335.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.