Blair William & Co. IL Raises Stock Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 23.3% during the first quarter, owning over 1 million shares valued at approximately $79.96 million.
• Several other institutional investors have also significantly raised their positions in Arista Networks recently, with 82.47% of the stock now owned by such investors.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Arista Networks, with many upgrading their ratings and price targets; the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $114.00.

Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 23.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,032,020 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 194,868 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned 0.08% of Arista Networks worth $79,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 381.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 179.7% during the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ANET has been the topic of a number of research reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Arista Networks from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.00.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of ANET stock opened at $117.56 on Friday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $59.43 and a 52-week high of $133.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.65 billion, a PE ratio of 49.76, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.98.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. The business's revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Arista Networks news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 864 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.68, for a total value of $99,083.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at $855,512.80. This trade represents a 10.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $794,880.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 65,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,536,298.24. This trade represents a 10.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,635,562 shares of company stock worth $291,955,743 in the last ninety days. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Arista Networks

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.

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