Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Up 3.9% - Should You Buy?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 3.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $86.30 and last traded at $86.41. 1,635,248 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 8,545,322 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.13.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ANET. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.00.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $109.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.13, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08. The business's fifty day moving average price is $101.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.98.

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Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. Equities research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.47, for a total value of $9,477,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,266.72. The trade was a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 51,848 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.59, for a total value of $4,593,214.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 491,001 shares of company stock valued at $49,112,111. 3.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ANET. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 304.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,084,951 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $10,620,270,000 after acquiring an additional 72,311,318 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 330.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,648,129 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,371,848,000 after purchasing an additional 44,269,572 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 277.5% during the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,288,583 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,016,207,000 after purchasing an additional 20,059,303 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 311.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,665,829,000 after buying an additional 18,293,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 218.5% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 21,070,016 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,328,869,000 after buying an additional 14,454,822 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by 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.