Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Shares Sold by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 81.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,502 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 200,914 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $3,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ANET. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 321.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,806 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $863,000 after acquiring an additional 5,955 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $202,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 8,822 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 345.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,652 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $146,966,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 555.0% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 6,851 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $757,000 after acquiring an additional 5,805 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.19, for a total transaction of $3,335,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,442,801.44. The trade was a 69.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 288,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.19, for a total transaction of $35,290,915.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 6,065,859 shares in the company, valued at $741,187,311.21. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,635,562 shares of company stock valued at $291,955,743 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Stock Down 4.6%

Shares of ANET stock opened at $117.56 on Friday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $133.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.65 billion, a PE ratio of 49.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $101.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.98.

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

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ANET shares. KGI Securities downgraded shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wedbush started coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $114.00.

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.

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