Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 37.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,028,006 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 602,822 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned 0.08% of Arista Networks worth $79,650,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Arista Networks by 304.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,084,951 shares of the technology company's stock worth $10,620,270,000 after purchasing an additional 72,311,318 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 330.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,648,129 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,371,848,000 after purchasing an additional 44,269,572 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 277.5% during the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,288,583 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,016,207,000 after buying an additional 20,059,303 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 311.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,665,829,000 after buying an additional 18,293,874 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 218.5% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 21,070,016 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,328,869,000 after buying an additional 14,454,822 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ANET. BNP Paribas cut Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Arista Networks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Wolfe Research began coverage on Arista Networks in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. KGI Securities cut Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $111.40.

Arista Networks Stock Up 0.0%

ANET traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $112.01. The company had a trading volume of 6,004,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,169,641. The business has a 50-day moving average of $97.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.89. The company has a market cap of $140.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.40. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $59.43 and a 1 year high of $133.58.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 40.72%. The firm's revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $794,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 65,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,536,298.24. This trade represents a 10.84% 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, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.23, for a total value of $2,397,980.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 592,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,637,052. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,123,370 shares of company stock valued at $113,157,408 in the last ninety days. 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.