Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated 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.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Arista Networks from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. 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, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $173.89.

Arista Networks Price Performance

ANET stock opened at $163.26 on Thursday. The stock 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $125.44. Arista Networks has a 1 year low of $89.11 and a 1 year high of $164.26.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 1,040 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.91, for a total transaction of $127,826.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.69, for a total value of $2,293,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,054.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 1,040 shares of the company’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 $127,826.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 293,687 shares of company stock worth $42,260,466. 19.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 7,999 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $971,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 11,472 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after buying an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. OLD Mission Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $123,000. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,410,404 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $171,153,000 after acquiring an additional 6,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 133.9% in the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 54,631 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,629,000 after acquiring an additional 31,271 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.30% of the company’s stock.

About Arista Networks

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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.