Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Up 4.2%

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) shares rose 4.2% on Friday . The company traded as high as $278.35 and last traded at $272.87. Approximately 1,183,811 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 2,434,232 shares. The stock had previously closed at $261.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on ANET. Barclays boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $272.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $313.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $240.00 to $320.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.53.

Arista Networks Stock Up 4.8 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $278.94 and a 200-day moving average of $248.71. The company has a market cap of $86.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.76, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.13.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The technology company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.52, for a total transaction of $573,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,462,247.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Arista Networks news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.52, for a total value of $573,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 60,946 shares in the company, valued at $17,462,247.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Yvonne Wassenaar sold 224 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.29, for a total transaction of $57,184.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $721,704.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 335,974 shares of company stock valued at $96,252,685. Company insiders own 18.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 373.4% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 942 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group acquired a new stake in Arista Networks during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $317,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 86.8% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 2,968 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 815.4% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 65,521 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $19,000,000 after acquiring an additional 58,363 shares during the period. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter worth $1,405,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.