Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and eighteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $311.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ANET shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $240.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, April 12th.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 25,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $347.00, for a total value of $8,675,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,600,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $555,477,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.05, for a total transaction of $5,801,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $940,922.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $347.00, for a total transaction of $8,675,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,600,800 shares in the company, valued at $555,477,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 210,330 shares of company stock valued at $65,582,187. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ANET. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,494,876 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,946,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,040 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,136,348 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,387,211,000 after purchasing an additional 55,312 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 0.8% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,049,416 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $884,270,000 after purchasing an additional 25,196 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the first quarter valued at about $881,848,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $586,051,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ANET opened at $356.61 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $111.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. Arista Networks has a one year low of $149.10 and a one year high of $357.57. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $303.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $279.70.

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

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.20 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management 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.