Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by BNP Paribas

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) was downgraded by research analysts at BNP Paribas from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on ANET. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.38.

Arista Networks Stock Up 0.6%

ANET opened at $94.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $118.38 billion, a PE ratio of 42.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.37. Arista Networks has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $133.58. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.48.

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

Arista Networks declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.07, for a total transaction of $7,205,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,168,748.32. This trade represents a 86.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.18, for a total transaction of $705,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 123,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,915,273.12. This represents a 6.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 105,690 shares of company stock valued at $9,360,205 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 335.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 179.7% during the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 381.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 415.7% during the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 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.