Arkadios Wealth Advisors Increases Stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• Arkadios Wealth Advisors significantly increased its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. by 691.4%, accumulating 95,275 shares valued at $7.38 million after purchasing 83,236 additional shares.
• Arista Networks, Inc. reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.65, exceeding expectations, with revenues rising 27.6% year-over-year to $2 billion.
• The company has authorized a share repurchase program worth $1.5 billion, which implies management's belief that the stock is currently undervalued.

Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 691.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 95,275 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 83,236 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors' holdings in Arista Networks were worth $7,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised 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 in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 277.5% during the 4th quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,288,583 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,016,207,000 after purchasing an additional 20,059,303 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 311.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,665,829,000 after purchasing an additional 18,293,874 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 330.8% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 11,292,585 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,248,169,000 after acquiring an additional 8,671,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 271.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,190,118 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,236,844,000 after acquiring an additional 8,175,884 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Stock Down 4.6%

ANET 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 10,575,626. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.65 billion, a PE ratio of 49.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.40. The company's 50-day moving average is $100.95 and its 200 day moving average is $95.10. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $133.57.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total value 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 represents a 10.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 588,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.15, for a total transaction of $70,060,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,105,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $727,495,703.95. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,346,742 shares of company stock worth $256,664,827 over the last 90 days. 3.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, KGI Securities lowered shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Six investment 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, Arista Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $114.00.

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.