Ethic Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. has reduced its position in Arista Networks, Inc. by 3.6%, selling 4,156 shares during the first quarter, which left them with 112,315 shares valued at approximately $8.8 million.
• CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,785,165 shares at an average price of $136.22, decreasing their ownership by 23.86% and valuing the remaining shares at about $776 million.
• Despite mixed analyst ratings, with price targets ranging significantly, the stock's average rating remains a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of $138.07.

Ethic Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 3.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 112,315 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 4,156 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $8,816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. HighMark Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 179.7% during the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 415.7% during the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Trading Down 4.1%

Shares of ANET stock traded down $5.6520 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $132.3880. 6,857,473 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,535,771. The company has a market capitalization of $166.39 billion, a PE ratio of 52.20, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.37. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.43 and a 12-month high of $141.99. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $110.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.15.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business's revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has approved 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 repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,785,165 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.22, for a total value of $243,175,176.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 5,767,742 shares of company stock valued at $714,048,068 over the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ANET. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised 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, August 6th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.07.

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.