Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Stock Position Raised by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management has increased its stake in Arista Networks by 4.1%, owning approximately 0.54% of the company, valued at $520.9 million.
• CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1.78 million shares of Arista Networks, representing a 23.86% decrease in her position, while insiders collectively sold over 5.2 million shares worth approximately $638.7 million in the last quarter.
• Arista reported earnings of $0.73 per share for the latest quarter, surpassing expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 30.4% to $2.20 billion.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,723,613 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 266,350 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.54% of Arista Networks worth $520,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,856,933 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $7,581,955,000 after buying an additional 1,771,982 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Arista Networks by 277.5% in the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,288,583 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,016,207,000 after purchasing an additional 20,059,303 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 330.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 11,292,585 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,248,169,000 after buying an additional 8,671,235 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 354.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,942,816 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,098,979,000 after buying an additional 7,753,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 37.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,552,484 shares of the technology company's stock worth $740,126,000 after purchasing an additional 2,594,184 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI set a $150.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $138.07.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.19, for a total value of $3,335,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,442,801.44. This trade represents a 69.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,785,165 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.22, for a total transaction of $243,175,176.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 5,698,074 shares of the company's stock, valued at $776,191,640.28. The trade was a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,228,907 shares of company stock valued at $638,699,061 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE ANET traded down $0.13 on Friday, hitting $139.15. The stock had a trading volume of 9,762,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,029,182. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $59.43 and a one year high of $141.01. The stock has a market cap of $174.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.37. The company's 50-day moving average is $105.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.54.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.08. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. Arista Networks's quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Arista Networks Company 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.