Handelsbanken Fonder AB Trims Stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 17.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 534,992 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 110,819 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $41,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 304.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,084,951 shares of the technology company's stock worth $10,620,270,000 after acquiring an additional 72,311,318 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 330.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,648,129 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,371,848,000 after acquiring an additional 44,269,572 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 277.5% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 311.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,665,829,000 after purchasing an additional 18,293,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 218.5% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 21,070,016 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,328,869,000 after purchasing an additional 14,454,822 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.07, for a total value of $7,205,600.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.49, for a total value of $102,187.08. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $512,305.20. This trade represents a 16.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 105,690 shares of company stock worth $9,360,205 over the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI cut their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $89.00 target price (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.38.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Arista Networks stock traded down $3.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $92.28. 6,205,708 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,043,529. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.89 billion, a PE ratio of 41.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.37. Arista Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.43 and a fifty-two week high of $133.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.39.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. Arista Networks's revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.