Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $4.31 Million in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought 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 firm bought 55,600 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,308,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighMark Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in Arista Networks by 381.5% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 415.7% in the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on ANET. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $89.00 price objective (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $110.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total transaction of $76,663,118.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,072,900. The trade was a 96.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the director directly owned 65,784 shares in the company, valued at $6,536,298.24. The trade was a 10.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,123,370 shares of company stock valued at $113,157,408 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Price Performance

NYSE:ANET traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $108.42. 2,883,919 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,152,650. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $59.43 and a one year high of $133.58. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $95.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.84. The company has a market cap of $136.16 billion, a PE ratio of 45.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board 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.