Kentucky Retirement Systems Buys Shares of 70,363 Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Kentucky Retirement Systems bought a new stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 70,363 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $5,452,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DSG Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,984,000. Ibex Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 14.4% during the first quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 58,093 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,501,000 after purchasing an additional 7,329 shares during the last quarter. GHE LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 319.0% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 28,368 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,136,000 after purchasing an additional 21,597 shares during the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 327.6% during the fourth quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 9,745 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 7,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unified Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $630,000. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of ANET opened at $86.18 on Monday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $59.43 and a 52-week high of $133.58. The business's 50 day moving average price is $87.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.85. The firm has a market cap of $108.23 billion, a PE ratio of 36.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.37.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 40.72%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.55, for a total transaction of $620,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 139,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,840,249.20. This represents a 5.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of the company'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 value of $102,187.08. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,480 shares in the company, valued at $512,305.20. The trade was a 16.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 161,690 shares of company stock valued at $14,525,085. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ANET shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Erste Group Bank cut Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. BNP Paribas cut Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and set a $89.00 price target (up from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $108.20.

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.

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