Piper Sandler Increases Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Price Target to $302.00

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) had its price objective boosted by Piper Sandler from $268.00 to $302.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $313.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $232.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $293.00.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Arista Networks stock opened at $314.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $279.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $251.85. Arista Networks has a 52-week low of $133.42 and a 52-week high of $316.22.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The technology company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 35.62% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Arista Networks will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.31, for a total transaction of $5,686,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,244 shares in the company, valued at $922,301.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.31, for a total value of $5,686,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $922,301.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 11,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.28, for a total value of $3,335,162.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 337,410 shares of company stock valued at $96,626,954. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 215 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 155 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 694 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,267 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

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.