ABC Arbitrage SA Invests $1.04 Million in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• ABC Arbitrage SA has acquired 13,418 shares of Arista Networks, Inc. valued at approximately $1,040,000, marking its new position in the technology sector.
• Arista Networks reported earnings of $0.73 per share for the latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and recorded a revenue increase of 30.4% year-over-year.
• The company has initiated a share repurchase program, allowing for the buyback of up to $1.50 billion of its own shares, indicating management's belief in the stock's undervaluation.

ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 13,418 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,040,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 277.5% during the 4th quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,288,583 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,016,207,000 after buying an additional 20,059,303 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 330.8% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 11,292,585 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,248,169,000 after buying an additional 8,671,235 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 354.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,942,816 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,098,979,000 after buying an additional 7,753,991 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 278.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,641,326 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $955,126,000 after buying an additional 6,357,753 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 289.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,875,759 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $870,513,000 after buying an additional 5,851,653 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE ANET traded down $0.13 on Friday, reaching $139.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,762,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,029,182. The firm has a market cap of $174.89 billion, a PE ratio of 54.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $105.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.54. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $141.01.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ANET. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. KGI Securities downgraded shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a 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 fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $138.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.19, for a total value of $2,890,940.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 582,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,757,056. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 864 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.68, for a total transaction of $99,083.52. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,460 shares in the company, valued at $855,512.80. This represents a 10.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,228,907 shares of company stock worth $638,699,061. Insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Company 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.