Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 303.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 526,737 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 396,057 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $58,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ANET. Caitlin John LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 174.7% during the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 335.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arista Networks Stock Up 5.3%

ANET stock traded up $4.91 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $97.23. 7,612,040 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,053,424. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.80, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $59.43 and a 1 year high of $133.58.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) 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. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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 authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits 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 board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total transaction of $159,409.44. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,128 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $870,752.64. The trade was a 15.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 92,641 shares in the company, valued at $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 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group raised shares of Arista Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. KGI Securities downgraded shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Arista Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.07.

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.