StockNews.com Downgrades Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET – Get Rating) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on ANET. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $157.00 to $170.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Arista Networks from $135.50 to $150.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on Arista Networks from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on Arista Networks from $140.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Credit Suisse Group increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $166.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $153.61.

Shares of NYSE ANET opened at $109.34 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $126.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.77. Arista Networks has a 1-year low of $78.33 and a 1-year high of $148.57. The company has a market cap of $33.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.28.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 21.16% and a net margin of 29.54%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Arista Networks will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

In other Arista Networks news, CFO Ita M. Brennan sold 14,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.40, for a total transaction of $1,767,120.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.36, for a total value of $5,134,400.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 688,527 shares of company stock valued at $83,163,747 over the last quarter. 22.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. MUFG Americas Holdings Corp acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC now owns 145 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 188 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.10% of the company’s stock.

About Arista Networks (Get Rating)

Arista Networks, Inc develops, markets, and sells cloud networking solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company's cloud networking solutions consist of extensible operating systems, a set of network applications, as well as gigabit Ethernet switching and routing platforms.

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