Comerica Bank Grows Position in Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• Comerica Bank increased its stake in Arista Networks by 8.8%, owning 239,780 shares worth approximately $18.6 million after acquiring additional shares in Q1.
• Analysts have set optimistic price targets for Arista Networks, with Barclays and UBS raising their price targets to $151 and $155 respectively, indicating strong market confidence in the company's growth.
• Insider trading activity saw Director Charles H. Giancarlo and CEO Jayshree Ullal sell shares totaling over $27.8 million, with Giancarlo's ownership decreasing by 12.16% and Ullal's by 3.32%.

Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 8.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 239,780 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,425 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $18,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ANET. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 321.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,806 shares of the technology company's stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 5,955 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Arista Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in Arista Networks by 433.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 10,856 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,200,000 after buying an additional 8,822 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 366.0% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 21,178 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,341,000 after buying an additional 16,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Arista Networks by 345.1% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,401 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,144,000 after buying an additional 15,042 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.01, for a total transaction of $936,080.00. Following the sale, the director owned 57,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,761,305.84. This represents a 12.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.51, for a total value of $3,549,260.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 572,400 shares in the company, valued at $78,138,324. This trade represents a 4.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,847,614 shares of company stock valued at $724,868,593. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas lowered Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Evercore ISI set a $150.00 price target on Arista Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $151.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $138.07.

Arista Networks Stock Down 0.3%

ANET traded down $0.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $135.89. 4,960,165 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,374,176. The company's 50-day moving average is $117.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.40. The company has a market cap of $170.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.37. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.43 and a 12-month high of $141.99.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 40.90%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is 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.