Magnetar Financial LLC Acquires New Stake in Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC invested approximately $6.31 million in Arista Networks, acquiring 81,441 shares during the first quarter.
• Arista Networks reported quarterly earnings of $0.73 per share, surpassing estimates by $0.08, with revenue reaching $2.20 billion for the quarter.
• Analysts have increased their target prices for Arista Networks, with Barclays issuing a target of $151.00 and UBS raising its target to $155.00, reflecting positive sentiment in the market.

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 81,441 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $6,310,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ANET. HighMark Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in Arista Networks by 381.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.51, for a total value of $4,095,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,771,353.76. This represents a 69.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.01, for a total value of $936,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 57,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,761,305.84. The trade was a 12.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,839,614 shares of company stock worth $724,163,153 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ANET. Erste Group Bank upgraded Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. KGI Securities downgraded Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Arista Networks from $89.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wedbush assumed coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $138.07.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of ANET stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Monday, hitting $136.46. The company had a trading volume of 7,957,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,078,280. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.49. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $118.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.36. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $59.43 and a one year high of $141.99.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.08. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 40.90%.The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase 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 shares are 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.