Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Raises Stock Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Arista Networks by 13.5%, now owning 63,045 shares valued at approximately $4.89 million.
• Several institutional investors have significantly increased their positions in Arista Networks, with 82.47% of the stock currently owned by institutional investors.
• Arista Networks announced a $1.50 billion stock buyback plan, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,045 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 7,488 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $4,885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ANET. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 321.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,806 shares of the technology company's stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 5,955 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth $202,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in Arista Networks by 433.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 10,856 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 8,822 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth $218,000. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 538.3% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 8,860 shares of the technology company's stock worth $979,000 after purchasing an additional 7,472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,168,748.32. The trade was a 86.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total transaction of $76,663,118.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,072,900. This represents a 96.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,758,742 shares of company stock worth $186,604,627. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ANET traded up $3.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $125.53. 7,114,759 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,504,044. The company's 50-day moving average is $100.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.03. The company has a market capitalization of $157.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.21, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.40. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $59.43 and a 1 year high of $133.57.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. KGI Securities downgraded Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.73.

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.