Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Shares Purchased by Baker Avenue Asset Management LP

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 328.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,905 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,622 shares during the quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $2,974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth $242,000. GHE LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 319.0% in the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 28,368 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,136,000 after acquiring an additional 21,597 shares during the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 327.6% in the 4th quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 9,745 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,077,000 after buying an additional 7,466 shares in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $630,000. Finally, Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 257.6% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. now owns 76,950 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,505,000 after buying an additional 55,430 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ANET shares. KGI Securities lowered shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Arista Networks from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $106.07.

Arista Networks Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE ANET traded up $0.89 on Thursday, reaching $87.34. The stock had a trading volume of 9,715,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,115,658. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.43 and a 12-month high of $133.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $78.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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 initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total value of $12,988,391.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,697,137.08. The trade was a 59.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.49, for a total transaction of $102,187.08. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $512,305.20. This trade represents a 16.63 % 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 valued at $37,216,079 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

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.