StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET)

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET – Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $181.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a buy rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. Cowen lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $212.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 6th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $173.89.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

NYSE:ANET opened at $163.26 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $50.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $133.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.44. Arista Networks has a 52-week low of $89.11 and a 52-week high of $164.26.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 13th. The technology company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.00% and a net margin of 30.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 54.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Arista Networks will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arista Networks news, insider John F. Mccool sold 996 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.91, for a total transaction of $122,418.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Arista Networks news, insider John F. Mccool sold 996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.91, for a total value of $122,418.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Anshul Sadana sold 43,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.43, for a total transaction of $6,588,786.75. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 81,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,353,384.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 293,687 shares of company stock worth $42,260,466 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 19.59% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ANET. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 135.9% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 34,026 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,729,000 after acquiring an additional 19,602 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,261,171 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $175,274,000 after purchasing an additional 19,738 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $676,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $224,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,268,588 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,511,828,000 after buying an additional 353,253 shares during the last quarter. 64.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Arista Networks, Inc engages in the business of developing, marketing, and selling cloud networking solutions. The firm is also involved in switching and routing platforms and related network applications. The company was founded by Andreas Bechtolsheim, David Cheriton, and Kenneth Duda in November 2004 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA.