Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Up 1.2%

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s share price traded up 1.2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $259.26 and last traded at $258.17. 411,799 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 2,438,280 shares. The stock had previously closed at $255.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ANET shares. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $272.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Melius raised shares of Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.53.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $278.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $248.71. The company has a market cap of $85.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.13.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The technology company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 35.62% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.31, for a total transaction of $5,686,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $922,301.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Arista Networks news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.31, for a total value of $5,686,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,244 shares in the company, valued at $922,301.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 87,418 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.81, for a total value of $24,373,012.58. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,929,639.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 335,974 shares of company stock valued at $96,252,685. Insiders own 18.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ANET. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the first quarter worth $26,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 872.7% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp bought a new position in Arista Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Arista Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter valued at about $42,000. 82.47% of the stock is currently 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.