Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Price Target to $340.00

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) had its target price raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $310.00 to $340.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 15.21% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on ANET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Arista Networks from $297.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $254.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.17.

Arista Networks Stock Up 7.7 %

Arista Networks stock traded up $21.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $295.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,442,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,488,284. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $279.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $251.25. The company has a market capitalization of $92.26 billion, a PE ratio of 44.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.13. Arista Networks has a 12 month low of $133.42 and a 12 month high of $307.74.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The technology company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.38. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 35.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. Arista Networks’s revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arista Networks will post 6.74 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 87,418 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.81, for a total transaction of $24,373,012.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 17,681 shares in the company, valued at $4,929,639.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $922,301.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 337,054 shares of company stock valued at $96,529,086 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in Arista Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 872.7% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Arista Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Arista Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

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.