Morgan Stanley Boosts Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Price Target to $120.00

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $120.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 2.08% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ANET. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $89.00 target price (up from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.00.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

NYSE:ANET opened at $117.56 on Thursday. Arista Networks has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $133.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $101.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.12. The firm has a market cap of $147.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.37.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 40.72%. Arista Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Arista Networks will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.19, for a total value of $3,335,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,442,801.44. This represents a 69.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 288,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.19, for a total value of $35,290,915.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 6,065,859 shares in the company, valued at $741,187,311.21. This trade represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,635,562 shares of company stock worth $291,955,743. Company insiders own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. HighMark Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 381.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 415.7% during the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.