Strategic Advisors LLC Acquires 12,146 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 110.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,130 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 12,146 shares during the period. Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $1,792,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Arista Networks by 304.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,084,951 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,620,270,000 after acquiring an additional 72,311,318 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 330.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,648,129 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,371,848,000 after purchasing an additional 44,269,572 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 277.5% during the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,288,583 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,016,207,000 after purchasing an additional 20,059,303 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 311.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,665,829,000 after purchasing an additional 18,293,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 218.5% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 21,070,016 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,328,869,000 after buying an additional 14,454,822 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ANET opened at $94.97 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $86.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.28. Arista Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.43 and a fifty-two week high of $133.58. The company has a market cap of $119.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.78, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.49, for a total value of $102,187.08. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $512,305.20. This trade represents a 16.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.18, for a total value of $705,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 123,784 shares in the company, valued at $10,915,273.12. This represents a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 105,690 shares of company stock valued at $9,360,205 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ANET shares. Erste Group Bank cut Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective 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, BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Arista Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $106.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.38.

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.