Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading 0.4% Higher - Should You Buy?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 0.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $116.27 and last traded at $115.76. Approximately 5,371,953 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 6,396,429 shares. The stock had previously closed at $115.29.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ANET shares. Barclays lowered their target price on Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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 report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Arista Networks from $100.00 to $106.25 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $102.42.

Arista Networks Stock Up 0.4 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $106.16 and a 200 day moving average of $95.69. The company has a market capitalization of $145.83 billion, a PE ratio of 55.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.08.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 40.29%. The business's revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 2,496 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John F. Mccool sold 2,336 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.83, for a total value of $226,200.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 288 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,887.76. The trade was a 89.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 345,316 shares of company stock worth $37,761,976. Insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ANET. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 310.1% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 21,569 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,384,000 after buying an additional 16,310 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 1,599.0% during the 4th quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 43,562 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,815,000 after acquiring an additional 40,998 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 132.0% during the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 775 shares of the technology company's stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 440.5% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 27,880 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,082,000 after purchasing an additional 22,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizons Wealth Management raised its stake in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Horizons Wealth Management now owns 800 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.