Shell Asset Management Co. Acquires 10,552 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Shell Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 312.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,924 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,552 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $1,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Caitlin John LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 174.7% in the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 335.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ANET shares. KGI Securities downgraded shares of Arista Networks to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.14.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In related news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 51,848 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.59, for a total transaction of $4,593,214.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 7,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $512,305.20. The trade was a 16.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 410,867 shares of company stock valued at $37,056,669 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of ANET stock 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 stock has a market cap of $120.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.20.

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

Arista Networks declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in 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 typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Arista Networks 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.