Navellier & Associates Inc. Reduces Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• Navellier & Associates Inc. has reduced its stake in Arista Networks by 7.4%, owning 56,508 shares valued at approximately $4.38 million after selling 4,540 shares in the first quarter.
• Arista Networks reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.65 for the latest quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.59, with revenue of $2 billion, up 27.6% year-over-year.
• The company's board has approved a $1.50 billion share repurchase plan, indicating a belief that its stock may be undervalued.

Navellier & Associates Inc. trimmed its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,508 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 4,540 shares during the quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $4,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Arista Networks by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 345,551 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,773,000 after acquiring an additional 36,149 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Arista Networks by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 63,045 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,885,000 after acquiring an additional 7,488 shares in the last quarter. Brookwood Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks during the 1st quarter worth $747,000. GHE LLC raised its stake in Arista Networks by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. GHE LLC now owns 29,939 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,320,000 after acquiring an additional 1,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Arista Networks by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,977 shares of the technology company's stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

ANET stock traded up $1.85 during trading on Monday, reaching $116.13. 3,286,630 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,494,981. The company has a market cap of $145.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.15, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.40. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $59.43 and a 52-week high of $133.57. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $98.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.65.

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total transaction of $76,663,118.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,072,900. This trade represents a 96.15% 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 firm'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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,177,878 shares of company stock valued at $119,281,861. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ANET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.40.

Arista Networks Company 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.