Fire Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 13,015 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,439,000. Arista Networks makes up about 1.1% of Fire Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position.
Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Caitlin John LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 174.7% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 335.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC raised its stake in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 381.5% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 415.7% in the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.07, for a total transaction of $7,205,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,168,748.32. This trade represents a 86.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.58, for a total value of $708,640.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 131,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,673,426.72. The trade was a 5.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 177,690 shares of company stock valued at $15,442,765. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have weighed in on ANET. UBS Group upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, KGI Securities cut Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.47.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Arista Networks
Arista Networks Stock Up 2.0%
NYSE:ANET traded up $1.76 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $88.40. 2,922,246 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,006,068. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $81.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.59. The firm has a market cap of $111.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $59.43 and a one year high of $133.58.
Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. Arista Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.
Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Arista Networks Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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