Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Sells 158,606 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 47.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 174,623 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 158,606 shares during the quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.'s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $13,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 381.5% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 415.7% in the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 179.7% in the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.18, for a total value of $705,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 123,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,915,273.12. This represents a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total value of $76,663,118.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,072,900. This represents a 96.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,123,400 shares of company stock valued at $113,159,520 over the last quarter. 3.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arista Networks Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE ANET traded up $1.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $102.45. 5,296,699 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,120,294. The company has a market cap of $128.66 billion, a PE ratio of 43.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.40. Arista Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.43 and a fifty-two week high of $133.58. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $92.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.14.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 40.72%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has initiated 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 buy up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ANET shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays dropped their price target on Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC began coverage on Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Arista Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.33.

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.