Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Up 7.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s share price was up 7.3% on Wednesday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $306.00 to $349.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Arista Networks traded as high as $295.12 and last traded at $294.04. Approximately 3,552,341 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 43% from the average daily volume of 2,476,203 shares. The stock had previously closed at $273.99.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $297.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Arista Networks from $272.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.00, for a total value of $6,666,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,665,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $504,585,900. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.81, for a total value of $73,895.18. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $678,612.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 22,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.00, for a total value of $6,666,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,665,300 shares in the company, valued at $504,585,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 337,054 shares of company stock worth $96,529,086 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the third quarter worth $791,000. Advisor Resource Council boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 507.9% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 7,021 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,653,000 after purchasing an additional 5,866 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in Arista Networks by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 4,445 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,024,220 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $716,649,000 after purchasing an additional 16,081 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 62.7% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 113,851 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,813,000 after buying an additional 43,889 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $91.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.39, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $279.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $251.25.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The technology company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.38. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 35.62%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.20 billion in outstanding 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 usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.