Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Buys 105,168 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 71.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 252,845 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 105,168 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $19,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ANET. DSG Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $5,984,000. Ibex Wealth Advisors grew its position in Arista Networks by 14.4% in the first quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 58,093 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,501,000 after purchasing an additional 7,329 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks in the first quarter valued at $629,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Arista Networks by 19.8% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 613,309 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,519,000 after purchasing an additional 101,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in Arista Networks in the first quarter valued at $15,227,000. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.01, for a total transaction of $936,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 57,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,761,305.84. This trade represents a 12.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.68, for a total transaction of $99,083.52. Following the sale, the director owned 7,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $855,512.80. This represents a 10.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,767,742 shares of company stock worth $714,048,068. 3.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ANET. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.07.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

NYSE ANET opened at $137.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $110.80 and a 200-day moving average of $96.15. The stock has a market cap of $173.43 billion, a PE ratio of 54.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.37. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $59.43 and a 52-week high of $141.99.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. Arista Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.