Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 365,457 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 28,111 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $28,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $5,984,000. Ibex Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 58,093 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,501,000 after acquiring an additional 7,329 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $629,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 613,309 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,519,000 after acquiring an additional 101,162 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $15,227,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.07.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ANET opened at $137.23 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.97, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.37. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $59.43 and a one year high of $141.99. The company’s fifty day moving average is $109.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.20.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business’s revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arista Networks news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.68, for a total transaction of $99,083.52. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $855,512.80. The trade was a 10.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 192,979 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.67, for a total transaction of $26,953,376.93. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 5,623,721 shares in the company, valued at $785,465,112.07. The trade was a 3.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,767,742 shares of company stock worth $714,048,068. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

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.