BOCHK Asset Management Ltd Buys 13,800 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• BOCHK Asset Management increased its Arista Networks position by 52.3% in the third quarter, buying 13,800 shares to own 40,200 shares worth approximately $8.18 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.47% of ANET.
• Wall Street remains broadly optimistic, with an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.95; 23 analysts rate the stock Buy or Strong Buy, while one recommends Hold.
• Arista reported strong quarterly results, posting $1.02 in EPS and $3.04 billion in revenue, exceeding estimates and reflecting 37.7% year-over-year revenue growth. However, CEO Jayshree Ullal and other insiders sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

BOCHK Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 52.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,200 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,800 shares during the period. Arista Networks comprises about 1.2% of BOCHK Asset Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $8,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. William Mack & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Arista Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. ABS Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 247 shares of the technology company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, August 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $220.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $250.00 price target on Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $232.95.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of ANET stock opened at $163.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $194.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.87. The stock has a market cap of $206.78 billion, a PE ratio of 51.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.60. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.52 and a 1 year high of $217.41.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.13. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.37% and a return on equity of 30.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.73 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total value of $154,341,575.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 16,387,981 shares in the company, valued at $3,297,589,536.82. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.60, for a total value of $60,780,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 180,843,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,638,801,524.80. The trade was a 0.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 3,619,449 shares of company stock valued at $739,787,226 in the last three months. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Arista Networks

Arista Networks, Inc develops and sells cloud networking solutions for data centers, cloud service providers, enterprises and specialized computing environments. The company's products are designed to support high-performance, scalable and automated networks used for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data analytics and other demanding applications.

Arista's portfolio includes data center and campus switches, routing platforms, wireless networking products, network operating software and network management tools.

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