Jefferies Financial Group Raises Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Price Target to $380.00

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) had its target price boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $340.00 to $380.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Arista Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $340.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $311.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a buy rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, June 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $353.38.

Arista Networks Price Performance

NYSE ANET opened at $319.01 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $332.16 and its 200 day moving average is $297.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.96 billion, a PE ratio of 44.43, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.11. Arista Networks has a 1 year low of $168.25 and a 1 year high of $376.50.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.38. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.81% and a net margin of 39.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.20 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.70, for a total transaction of $7,414,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,550.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Arista Networks news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.70, for a total transaction of $7,414,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,550.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Yvonne Wassenaar sold 223 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.34, for a total transaction of $70,543.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,427.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 205,116 shares of company stock valued at $67,657,035 in the last ninety days. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ANET. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,494,876 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,946,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,040 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,136,348 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,387,211,000 after buying an additional 55,312 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,049,416 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $884,270,000 after acquiring an additional 25,196 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Arista Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $881,848,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $586,051,000. 82.47% of the stock is currently 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.