Whipplewood Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 41,612 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,224,000. Arista Networks makes up 1.0% of Whipplewood Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caitlin John LLC raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 174.7% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 335.1% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 381.5% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 415.7% in the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in Arista Networks by 409.7% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 316 shares of the technology company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of the 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 owns 7,480 shares in the company, valued at $512,305.20. This represents a 16.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.55, for a total transaction of $620,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 139,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,840,249.20. This trade represents a 5.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 105,690 shares of company stock worth $9,360,205. 3.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $112.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.47.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ANET traded up $2.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $97.29. The stock had a trading volume of 6,620,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,059,879. The company has a market cap of $122.19 billion, a PE ratio of 43.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.43 and a 12-month high of $133.58. The company's 50 day moving average is $83.43 and its 200-day moving average is $96.57.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. 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 approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership 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.