Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Lowers Stock Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 12.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 48,177 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 7,127 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $3,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ANET. HighMark Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 179.7% during the first 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 shares of Arista Networks by 381.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 415.7% during the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ANET. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $138.07.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 880,180 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.79, for a total value of $109,837,662.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 5,944,405 shares in the company, valued at $741,802,299.95. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.01, for a total transaction of $936,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 57,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,761,305.84. This trade represents a 12.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,443,742 shares of company stock worth $395,523,885 in the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

ANET opened at $139.26 on Friday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.43 and a fifty-two week high of $141.01. The firm's fifty day moving average is $104.55 and its 200 day moving average is $95.41. The stock has a market cap of $174.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.