Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading 6% Higher – Time to Buy?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s share price traded up 6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $92.87 and last traded at $91.75. 3,194,308 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 9,033,123 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Arista Networks from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.07.

Arista Networks Stock Up 6.6%

The company’s fifty day moving average is $78.94 and its 200 day moving average is $97.29. The stock has a market cap of $115.87 billion, a PE ratio of 41.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arista Networks news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.03, for a total transaction of $712,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 147,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,157,209.52. The trade was a 5.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 51,848 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 412,355 shares of company stock worth $37,216,079. Insiders own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ANET. Caitlin John LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 174.7% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 335.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its position in Arista Networks by 381.5% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 415.7% during the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

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.