Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading 2% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 2% during mid-day trading on Friday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $120.00 to $135.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Arista Networks traded as high as $120.33 and last traded at $120.48. 1,792,171 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 5,834,124 shares. The stock had previously closed at $118.13.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on ANET. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Arista Networks from $96.25 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $105.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.12, for a total value of $147,887.04. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,768 shares in the company, valued at $869,084.16. The trade was a 14.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.30, for a total transaction of $786,360.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 179,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,671,868.28. The trade was a 4.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 345,316 shares of company stock worth $37,761,976. 3.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. lifted its stake 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 worth $24,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,219 shares in the last quarter. Deepwater Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $15,084,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its stake in Arista Networks by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 9,028 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,465,000 after buying an additional 3,711 shares during the period. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,318,000. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 13,224 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,076,000 after acquiring an additional 2,216 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $107.45 and a 200-day moving average of $96.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.90 billion, a PE ratio of 57.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.08.

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

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.