Capital Research Global Investors Decreases Stock Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• Capital Research Global Investors trimmed its Arista position by 8.9% in Q3, selling 1,724,585 shares and now holds 17,738,184 shares (~1.41%) valued at about $2.585 billion.
• Insiders have been net sellers: directors recently sold shares (Charles Giancarlo 8,000 at $140.43; Yvonne Wassenaar 1,815 at $132.44) and insiders offloaded 196,237 shares (~$25.9M) over the past 90 days, leaving insiders with 3.54% ownership.
• Analysts remain largely bullish and Arista beat estimates: the company reported EPS $0.82 vs $0.75 consensus and $2.49B revenue vs $2.38B, while analysts show 17 Buys and 5 Holds with a consensus price target of $176.88 (some targets up to $200).

Capital Research Global Investors lessened its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 8.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,738,184 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,724,585 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors owned about 1.41% of Arista Networks worth $2,584,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. Bare Financial Services Inc raised its stake in Arista Networks by 2,118.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 244 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 56.7% in the third quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 199 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 141.3% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 222 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 979.2% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 259 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arista Networks news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.43, for a total value of $1,123,440.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,373,967.12. This represents a 44.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Yvonne Wassenaar sold 1,815 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.44, for a total value of $240,378.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,574 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,665,300.56. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 196,237 shares of company stock valued at $25,865,760 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ANET shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Arista Networks from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $176.88.

Arista Networks Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of Arista Networks stock opened at $137.14 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $172.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.69, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.46. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $134.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.26. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $59.43 and a 52-week high of $164.94.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.99% and a return on equity of 30.37%. Arista Networks's revenue was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Arista Networks

Arista Networks, Inc is a technology company that designs and sells cloud networking solutions for large-scale data centers and enterprise environments. The company is best known for its high-performance switching and routing platforms, which are used to build scalable, low-latency networks for cloud service providers, internet companies, financial services, telecommunications, and enterprise IT. Arista's offerings emphasize programmability, automation and telemetry to support modern, software-driven network architectures.

Central to Arista's product portfolio is its Extensible Operating System (EOS), a modular network operating system that provides consistent programmability, stateful control and advanced visibility across the company's hardware platforms.

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