Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 297,109.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,462,488 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,461,323 shares during the quarter. Arista Networks makes up approximately 1.4% of Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $382,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 9.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 339,556 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $130,328,000 after buying an additional 29,006 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 179.7% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 82,495 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,118,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 308.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 10,809 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 8,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 329.1% in the fourth quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,141 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 2,409 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ANET opened at $86.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $108.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.81, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.31. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $133.58.

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

Arista Networks announced that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 repurchase 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ANET shares. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Arista Networks from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Arista Networks from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.07.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total value of $159,409.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $870,752.64. This trade represents a 15.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 owns 92,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,697,137.08. This trade represents a 59.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 412,355 shares of company stock worth $37,216,079 in the last 90 days. 3.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.