Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Shares Purchased by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 19.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 613,309 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 101,162 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $47,519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ANET. Citigroup raised their target price on Arista Networks from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. KeyCorp began coverage on Arista Networks in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 864 shares of the firm'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 owned 7,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $855,512.80. This trade represents a 10.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 880,180 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.79, for a total value of $109,837,662.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,944,405 shares in the company, valued at $741,802,299.95. This trade represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,435,742 shares of company stock worth $394,587,805 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of ANET opened at $120.23 on Tuesday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $59.43 and a 1 year high of $133.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.00 billion, a PE ratio of 50.89, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.82.

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

Arista Networks declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 buy up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership 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.

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