ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Purchases New Stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired 123,060 shares of Arista Networks, Inc. valued at approximately $9.5 million during the first quarter, highlighting increased institutional interest in the company.
• Insiders, including CEO Jayshree Ullal and SVP Kenneth Duda, have sold significant amounts of stock, totaling over $395 million in the last ninety days, which has raised concerns about insider confidence.
• Arista Networks reported strong quarterly earnings with $0.73 EPS, exceeding expectations, and a year-over-year revenue growth of 30.4%, while announcing a $1.5 billion stock buyback plan.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 123,060 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $9,534,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. HighMark Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 179.7% in the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 381.5% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 415.7% in the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ANET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $89.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $138.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.19, for a total transaction of $2,890,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 582,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,757,056. This trade represents a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 864 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.68, for a total transaction of $99,083.52. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $855,512.80. The trade was a 10.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,228,907 shares of company stock worth $638,699,061. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:ANET traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $139.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,762,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,029,182. Arista Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.43 and a fifty-two week high of $141.01. The company has a market capitalization of $174.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $104.55 and a 200-day moving average of $95.41.

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

Arista Networks announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.