E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Trims Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• E Fund Management Co. Ltd. reduced its stake in Arista Networks by 14.0% during the 1st quarter, now holding 21,531 shares worth approximately $1.67 million.
• Arista Networks reported $2.20 billion in revenue for the quarter, exceeding expectations, with a net margin of 40.90% and an EPS of $0.73.
• Insider trading activity included CEO Jayshree Ullal selling 1,785,165 shares for about $243.18 million, representing a 23.86% decrease in her position.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lowered its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 14.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,531 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,498 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $1,668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. HighMark Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 179.7% in the first 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. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 381.5% in the fourth 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 raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 415.7% in the fourth 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. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,785,165 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.22, for a total value of $243,175,176.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 5,698,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $776,191,640.28. The trade was a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 5,767,742 shares of company stock valued at $714,048,068 in the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ANET. UBS Group increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. 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. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wedbush began coverage on Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $138.07.

Arista Networks Price Performance

ANET stock traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $137.23. 6,054,998 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,596,364. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $109.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.98. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $59.43 and a 12 month high of $141.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.97, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.37.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 40.90%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are 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.