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

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $112.46 and last traded at $110.79, with a volume of 1371812 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $106.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on ANET. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.25 price objective (up previously from $86.25) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Arista Networks from $97.50 to $107.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $100.00 to $106.25 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com lowered Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.88.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $140.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.84.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.29% and a return on equity of 30.52%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. Arista Networks’s revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 2,496 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.09, for a total value of $242,342.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.19, for a total value of $132,707.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $915,038.10. This trade represents a 12.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 354,964 shares of company stock valued at $36,974,705 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in Arista Networks by 3.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,237,635 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,313,229,000 after purchasing an additional 411,109 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,871,481 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,246,705,000 after buying an additional 236,151 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Arista Networks by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,660,695 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,021,228,000 after buying an additional 492,615 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 4.6% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,283,573 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $876,481,000 after acquiring an additional 99,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 0.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,195,733 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $769,560,000 after acquiring an additional 20,278 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.