Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET Shares Purchased by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Arista Networks by 66.1% in Q1, owning over 1 million shares valued at approximately $84 million.
• Equities research analysts have generally rated Arista Networks stock as a "Moderate Buy", with an average price target of $138.07.
• Arista Networks reported a 30.4% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue, reaching $2.20 billion, with earnings per share of $0.73 surpassing estimates.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 66.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,085,512 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 432,074 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.09% of Arista Networks worth $84,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 381.5% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 415.7% during the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. HighMark Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 179.7% during the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Arista Networks stock traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $136.46. 7,957,378 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,078,280. The stock has a market cap of $171.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.49. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $59.43 and a 52-week high of $141.99. The firm's 50 day moving average is $118.31 and its 200 day moving average is $97.36.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. Arista Networks's quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,785,165 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.22, for a total transaction of $243,175,176.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 5,698,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $776,191,640.28. This represents a 23.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,847,614 shares of company stock worth $724,868,593. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ANET has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.07.

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.