Snowden Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 11,712 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 284.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,824 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,712 shares during the period. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $1,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caitlin John LLC boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 174.7% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 335.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ANET shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.14.

Arista Networks Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:ANET opened at $96.31 on Friday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.43 and a 12-month high of $133.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.95 billion, a PE ratio of 43.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $80.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.20.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.49, for a total transaction of $102,187.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $512,305.20. This trade represents a 16.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total transaction of $12,988,391.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,697,137.08. The trade was a 59.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 410,867 shares of company stock valued at $37,056,669. Corporate insiders own 3.39% 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.