Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $131.18 and last traded at $129.85, with a volume of 9744592 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $121.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com lowered Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup raised their target price on Arista Networks from $96.25 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.83.

Arista Networks Trading Down 0.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $162.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day moving average of $109.97 and a 200 day moving average of $97.91.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 40.29%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.65, for a total transaction of $825,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 42,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,721,666.90. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 2,496 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.83, for a total value of $241,693.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 343,992 shares of company stock valued at $37,634,420 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 103.5% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 8,192 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,871,000 after purchasing an additional 4,166 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 97.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,794,586 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $628,966,000 after buying an additional 884,703 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,664,000. Mark Asset Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 50.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mark Asset Management LP now owns 88,489 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,014,000 after buying an additional 29,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 164,739 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,730,000 after buying an additional 3,537 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.