Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Friday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $120.00 to $135.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Arista Networks traded as high as $120.28 and last traded at $119.88, with a volume of 1369065 shares. The stock had previously closed at $118.13.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Arista Networks from $96.25 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 2,496 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.83, for a total transaction of $241,693.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.09, for a total transaction of $8,407,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,363,647.84. This trade represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 345,316 shares of company stock valued at $37,761,976. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. HM Payson & Co. lifted its position in Arista Networks by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 132 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 2,133.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 134 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 186.0% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 143 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $150.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.59, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.74.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.29% and a return on equity of 30.52%. Arista Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.