5,267 Shares in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Bought by Stevens Capital Management LP

Key Points

• Stevens Capital Management LP has acquired 5,267 shares of Arista Networks, valued at approximately $408,000, marking a new investment in the technology company.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 82.47% of Arista Networks' stock, with significant increases in holdings from firms like FMR LLC and Cresset Asset Management during the previous quarter.
• Arista Networks announced a $1.50 billion share repurchase plan, indicating confidence in the company's valuation and financial health.

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,267 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $408,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in Arista Networks by 330.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,648,129 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,371,848,000 after buying an additional 44,269,572 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 277.5% during the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,288,583 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,016,207,000 after acquiring an additional 20,059,303 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 311.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,665,829,000 after purchasing an additional 18,293,874 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 218.5% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 21,070,016 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,328,869,000 after purchasing an additional 14,454,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 330.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 11,292,585 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,248,169,000 after purchasing an additional 8,671,235 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ANET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $89.00 target price (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.07, for a total transaction of $7,205,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,168,748.32. The trade was a 86.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $794,880.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 65,784 shares in the company, valued at $6,536,298.24. This trade represents a 10.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,177,878 shares of company stock valued at $119,281,861 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of ANET stock opened at $114.37 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $98.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.94. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $59.43 and a 12 month high of $133.57. The company has a market capitalization of $143.64 billion, a PE ratio of 48.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.40.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS 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 30.48%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. Arista Networks's quarterly revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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