Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Up 2.6% - Still a Buy?

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) were up 2.6% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $105.49 and last traded at $102.89. Approximately 8,330,525 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 2% from the average daily volume of 8,166,788 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ANET. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $105.83.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $111.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.61. The company has a market cap of $145.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.08.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.76 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.29% and a return on equity of 30.52%. Arista Networks's quarterly revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.65, for a total value of $825,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 42,946 shares in the company, valued at $17,721,666.90. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 3,328 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.35, for a total value of $330,628.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,724 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,026,252.59. The trade was a 4.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 331,160 shares of company stock valued at $36,380,165 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ANET. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 63,244 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $24,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,219 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 69.8% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 9,028 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,465,000 after purchasing an additional 3,711 shares during the last quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $2,318,000. Greenleaf Trust grew its position in Arista Networks by 20.1% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 13,224 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,076,000 after buying an additional 2,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 10.0% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 72,800 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,942,000 after buying an additional 6,600 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.