196,534 Shares in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Acquired by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management Co. LP has acquired 196,534 shares of Arista Networks, Inc., worth approximately $15.2 million, indicating a significant investment during the first quarter.
• Insiders, including CEO Jayshree Ullal, have sold a substantial number of shares recently, indicating changes in ownership dynamics within the company.
• Arista Networks has announced a $1.5 billion stock buyback plan, signaling that the company believes its shares are undervalued.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 196,534 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $15,227,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 2,455 shares of the technology company's stock worth $190,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,960 shares of the technology company's stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its position in Arista Networks by 31.3% during the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 525 shares of the technology company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. PFG Advisors increased its position in Arista Networks by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 5,061 shares of the technology company's stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in Arista Networks by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,624 shares of the technology company's stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arista Networks Trading Down 1.9%

Arista Networks stock traded down $2.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $118.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,469,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,995,849. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $102.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.82. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $133.57. The stock has a market cap of $148.30 billion, a PE ratio of 49.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.37.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 40.72%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane cut Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $89.00 price objective (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC began coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.19, for a total transaction of $2,890,940.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 582,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,757,056. This trade represents a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 864 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.68, for a total value of $99,083.52. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,460 shares in the company, valued at $855,512.80. The trade was a 10.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,443,742 shares of company stock valued at $395,523,885. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

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.