iA Global Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Arista Networks by 18.4%, holding a total of 50,904 shares valued at approximately $3.94 million.
• Insider transactions indicate that CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 880,180 shares, decreasing their position by 12.9%, while Sr. VP Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares, with a 69.81% reduction in their holdings.
• Multiple analysts have adjusted their price targets for Arista Networks, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $116.86, reflecting positive sentiment towards the company's stock.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 18.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,904 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,896 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $3,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 2,455 shares of the technology company's stock worth $190,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 1.5% in the first quarter. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,960 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 31.3% during the first quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 525 shares of the technology company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. PFG Advisors raised its position in Arista Networks by 2.7% in the first quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 5,061 shares of the technology company's stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 9.4% in the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,624 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Wedbush initiated coverage on Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Arista Networks from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $138.07.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 880,180 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.79, for a total value of $109,837,662.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,944,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $741,802,299.95. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.19, for a total transaction of $3,335,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,442,801.44. This trade represents a 69.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,443,742 shares of company stock valued at $395,523,885. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of ANET traded up $0.48 on Thursday, hitting $139.26. 11,033,466 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,939,822. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $59.43 and a 1 year high of $141.01. The stock's 50 day moving average is $104.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Arista Networks declared that its board has approved a share 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors 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.