Inspire Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• Inspire Advisors LLC has reduced its stock holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. by 44.2%, selling 18,242 shares and now owning a total of 23,043 shares valued at $1,785,000.
• Arista Networks recently announced a $1.50 billion share repurchase program, which typically indicates the board believes the stock is undervalued.
• The stock opened at $114.37, with a market capitalization of $143.64 billion and was rated as a "Moderate Buy" by analysts, with an average target price of $111.40.

Inspire Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 44.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 23,043 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 18,242 shares during the quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $1,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arista Networks Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:ANET traded up $1.16 on Tuesday, reaching $118.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,912,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,535,173. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.43 and a 12-month high of $133.57. The firm has a market cap of $149.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $99.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.67.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 40.72%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors 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 buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ANET. Wedbush began coverage on Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Arista Networks in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $111.40.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total value of $76,663,118.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,072,900. This trade represents a 96.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total value of $794,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 65,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,536,298.24. The trade was a 10.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,177,878 shares of company stock worth $119,281,861 in the last three months. 3.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.