Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $118.22 and last traded at $117.63, with a volume of 658974 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $115.20.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ANET. StockNews.com lowered shares of Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $100.00 to $106.25 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.70.

Arista Networks Stock Down 3.0 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $105.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.40. The company has a market cap of $145.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.08.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 40.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 2,496 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.83, for a total transaction of $241,693.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.65, for a total value of $825,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 42,946 shares in the company, valued at $17,721,666.90. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 265,316 shares of company stock valued at $28,284,376 in the last quarter. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Arista Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Arista Networks in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 132 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 2,133.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 134 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 186.0% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 143 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 93 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.