Fifth Third Bancorp Buys 92,916 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 13.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 810,167 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 92,916 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp owned approximately 0.06% of Arista Networks worth $62,772,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 5,127 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 39.2% during the 1st quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 3,180 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 896 shares during the period. Northeast Investment Management increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 54.6% during the 1st quarter. Northeast Investment Management now owns 4,938 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 442.5% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,800,255 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $139,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468,383 shares during the period. Finally, Nepsis Inc. purchased a new position in Arista Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $10,934,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANET has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. KGI Securities lowered Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arista Networks news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.49, for a total transaction of $102,187.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,480 shares in the company, valued at $512,305.20. This trade represents a 16.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.18, for a total value of $705,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 123,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,915,273.12. This represents a 6.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 105,690 shares of company stock worth $9,360,205. 3.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arista Networks Stock Up 1.5%

ANET traded up $1.45 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $95.66. The company had a trading volume of 8,762,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,079,196. The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.48. The company has a market cap of $120.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.37. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $59.43 and a 1 year high of $133.58.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% 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 prior year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.