Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Shares Bought by American Trust

American Trust raised its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 288.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,038 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 12,656 shares during the quarter. American Trust's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $1,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 301.4% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 103,166 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $11,403,000 after buying an additional 77,462 shares during the period. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth $1,595,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 610.0% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 185,792 shares of the technology company's stock worth $20,536,000 after purchasing an additional 159,623 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 303.7% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 564,027 shares of the technology company's stock worth $62,342,000 after purchasing an additional 424,315 shares during the period. Finally, DigitalBridge Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 314.1% during the 4th quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 296,410 shares of the technology company's stock worth $32,762,000 after purchasing an additional 224,834 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.07, for a total value of $7,205,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,168,748.32. This trade represents a 86.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 51,848 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.59, for a total transaction of $4,593,214.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 237,538 shares of company stock valued at $20,748,219 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Price Performance

NYSE:ANET traded up $0.30 on Wednesday, reaching $92.79. The stock had a trading volume of 5,485,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,975,498. The company has a market cap of $116.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.80, 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $81.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.81.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. Arista Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ANET. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $89.00 price objective (up from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.47.

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.