OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Sells 3,122 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd reduced its position in Arista Networks by 4.9%, owning 60,664 shares valued at approximately $4.7 million after selling 3,122 shares during the first quarter.
• Arista Networks reported a 27.6% year-over-year increase in revenue, with last quarter's earnings per share hitting $0.65, surpassing analyst estimates.
• The company recently authorized a $1.50 billion stock buyback plan, indicating confidence in its stock value amid strong institutional investor interest.

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd trimmed its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,664 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,122 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $4,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ANET. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Arista Networks by 8.0% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 285,258 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $22,102,000 after buying an additional 21,082 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Arista Networks by 17.3% in the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 561,301 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $43,490,000 after acquiring an additional 82,820 shares in the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC grew its position in Arista Networks by 5.7% in the first quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 3,684 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association grew its position in Arista Networks by 71.4% in the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 288,012 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $22,315,000 after acquiring an additional 119,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP grew its position in Arista Networks by 25.5% in the first quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 33,765 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 6,860 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ANET shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Arista Networks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.00.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total value of $794,880.00. Following the sale, the director owned 65,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,536,298.24. The trade was a 10.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 288,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.19, for a total value of $35,290,915.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,065,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $741,187,311.21. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,635,562 shares of company stock worth $291,955,743 over the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arista Networks Stock Down 4.6%

ANET stock traded down $5.66 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $117.56. 11,553,581 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,253,870. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.98. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.43 and a twelve month high of $133.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.37.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Arista Networks'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 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

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