Bright Rock Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Bright Rock Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 45,000 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,487,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 335.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 381.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in 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. Hemington Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 409.7% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 316 shares of the technology company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 312 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ANET. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $107.38.

Arista Networks Price Performance

NYSE:ANET traded down $3.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $92.28. The company had a trading volume of 6,205,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,041,699. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $133.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $85.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.45. The company has a market capitalization of $115.89 billion, a PE ratio of 41.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.37.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released 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. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.55, for a total transaction of $620,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 139,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,840,249.20. This represents a 5.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.49, for a total value of $102,187.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $512,305.20. The trade was a 16.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 105,690 shares of company stock valued at $9,360,205 over the last 90 days. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arista Networks 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.