Raiffeisen Bank International AG Buys 41,827 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• Raiffeisen Bank International AG increased its stake in Arista Networks by 6.5% during Q1, now owning 682,367 shares worth approximately $53.18 million.
• Various institutional investors have also adjusted their holdings, with Tradewinds Capital Management increasing its stake by 45.8% during the same period.
• CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 288,820 shares on July 30th, representing a 4.54% decrease in her overall ownership of the company.

Raiffeisen Bank International AG raised its position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 682,367 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 41,827 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG owned approximately 0.05% of Arista Networks worth $53,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ANET. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 330.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,648,129 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,371,848,000 after buying an additional 44,269,572 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its position in Arista Networks by 277.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 20,059,303 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in Arista Networks by 330.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 8,671,235 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Arista Networks by 271.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,190,118 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,236,844,000 after acquiring an additional 8,175,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Arista Networks by 354.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 7,753,991 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ANET traded down $5.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $117.56. 11,553,581 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,831,898. The company has a market cap of $147.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.76, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.37. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $101.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.81. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.43 and a twelve month high of $133.57.

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

Arista Networks announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ANET shares. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Arista Networks from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays dropped their price target on Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. KGI Securities downgraded Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Arista Networks in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $114.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 864 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.68, for a total transaction of $99,083.52. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,460 shares in the company, valued at $855,512.80. This represents a 10.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.19, for a total transaction of $3,335,700.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,442,801.44. This trade represents a 69.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,635,562 shares of company stock valued at $291,955,743. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

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.