Kessler Investment Group LLC Purchases New Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Kessler Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 75,826 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $5,875,000. Arista Networks accounts for about 2.9% of Kessler Investment Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 0.8% in the first quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 21,449 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,662,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. First American Bank increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 1.1% in the first quarter. First American Bank now owns 14,478 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,122,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 43.8% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 575 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 30,642 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,374,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 4,645 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Stock Down 2.2%

NYSE:ANET traded down $2.22 on Friday, hitting $99.37. The stock had a trading volume of 10,389,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,073,337. The business's fifty day moving average is $89.99 and its 200 day moving average is $95.58. The company has a market cap of $124.81 billion, a PE ratio of 42.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.37. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $133.58.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted 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. 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 analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group upgraded Arista Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Erste Group Bank lowered Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Rosenblatt Securities upped 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm'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 value of $620,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 139,784 shares in the company, valued at $10,840,249.20. This trade represents a 5.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.23, for a total value of $2,766,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,196,776.48. This represents a 69.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 161,690 shares of company stock worth $14,525,085 over the last 90 days. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.