DSM Capital Partners LLC Acquires 450,288 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• DSM Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 8.7%, acquiring an additional 450,288 shares, making it the company's 5th largest position.
• Arista Networks recently reported a 30.4% year-over-year revenue growth for the quarter, with earnings per share of $0.73, exceeding analysts' expectations.
• CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 192,979 shares in August, resulting in a 3.32% decrease in her ownership, while insiders collectively sold over $714 million worth of shares in the past three months.

DSM Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 8.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,639,166 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 450,288 shares during the quarter. Arista Networks accounts for 7.6% of DSM Capital Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. DSM Capital Partners LLC owned 0.45% of Arista Networks worth $436,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP boosted its position in Arista Networks by 381.5% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 415.7% during the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. HighMark Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 214.5% in the 4th quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 368 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Trading Up 0.5%

ANET traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $137.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,054,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,893,038. The business's 50-day moving average price is $109.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $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 cap of $172.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Arista Networks announced that its board has approved a stock 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 typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,785,165 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.22, for a total transaction of $243,175,176.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,698,074 shares in the company, valued at $776,191,640.28. This represents a 23.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 5,767,742 shares of company stock valued at $714,048,068 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ANET has been the subject of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $151.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, KGI Securities cut shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $138.07.

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.