Investors Buy High Volume of Arista Networks Call Options (NYSE:ANET)

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 26,542 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 55% compared to the average daily volume of 17,088 call options.

Arista Networks Trading Up 5.9 %

ANET traded up $5.91 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $106.21. 20,660,059 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,957,494. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $110.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.80 billion, a PE ratio of 51.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.08. Arista Networks has a one year low of $60.08 and a one year high of $133.57.

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 the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. Arista Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Arista Networks will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ANET has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.25 price target (up previously from $86.25) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $96.25 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.83.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.30, for a total value of $786,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 179,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,671,868.28. The trade was a 4.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 2,496 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was 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 worth $37,634,420 in the last ninety days. 3.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ANET. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Arista Networks by 293.2% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 6,750,793 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $746,165,000 after purchasing an additional 5,034,022 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 292.8% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 6,053,181 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $674,627,000 after buying an additional 4,512,166 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 307.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,632,730 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $512,056,000 after buying an additional 3,496,497 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Arista Networks by 306.9% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,433,425 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $268,966,000 after buying an additional 1,835,421 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 473.2% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,326,274 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $146,593,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094,910 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.