KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Has $39 Million Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 503,400 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,400 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $39,003,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 330.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,648,129 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,371,848,000 after buying an additional 44,269,572 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 277.5% in 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 buying an additional 20,059,303 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 311.6% in 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 buying an additional 18,293,874 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Arista Networks by 218.5% in 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 buying an additional 14,454,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Arista Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $1,397,833,000. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:ANET traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $114.06. The stock had a trading volume of 5,365,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,588,257. The company's 50-day moving average price is $98.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.98. The company has a market capitalization of $143.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.40. Arista Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.43 and a fifty-two week high of $133.57.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. 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 buyback plan on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total transaction of $76,663,118.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,072,900. This represents a 96.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $794,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 65,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,536,298.24. This trade represents a 10.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,177,878 shares of company stock worth $119,281,861 in the last three months. 3.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.40.

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.