Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $311.42, but opened at $338.00. Arista Networks shares last traded at $336.30, with a volume of 520,865 shares changing hands.

The technology company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 37.64% and a return on equity of 31.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 EPS.

Arista Networks announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ANET has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $349.00 to $432.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $302.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Erste Group Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $339.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other news, Director Yvonne Wassenaar sold 223 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.34, for a total transaction of $70,543.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,976 shares in the company, valued at $941,427.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.77, for a total transaction of $388,155.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,681 shares in the company, valued at $4,575,312.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Yvonne Wassenaar sold 223 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.34, for a total transaction of $70,543.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,976 shares in the company, valued at $941,427.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 206,616 shares of company stock valued at $68,045,190. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 500.0% in the 2nd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arista Networks Trading Up 7.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $104.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $330.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $296.56.

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.