Ascent Group LLC Buys 77,462 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 301.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 103,166 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 77,462 shares during the quarter. Arista Networks comprises approximately 0.9% of Ascent Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $11,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ANET. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth $242,000. GHE LLC increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 319.0% in the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 28,368 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,136,000 after acquiring an additional 21,597 shares during the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 327.6% during the fourth quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 9,745 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,077,000 after acquiring an additional 7,466 shares in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $630,000. Finally, Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Arista Networks by 257.6% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. now owns 76,950 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,505,000 after purchasing an additional 55,430 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ANET. Citigroup upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wedbush started coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $89.00 price target (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.47.

Arista Networks Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of Arista Networks stock traded down $1.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $85.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,080,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,998,807. The business's 50-day moving average price is $81.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.69. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $133.58. The firm has a market cap of $106.83 billion, a PE ratio of 38.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.03, for a total value of $712,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 147,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,157,209.52. This trade represents a 5.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.07, for a total value of $7,205,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,168,748.32. The trade was a 86.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 237,538 shares of company stock valued at $20,748,219 over the last 90 days. 3.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.