Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. Invests $1.24 Million in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. has acquired a new position in Arista Networks, Inc., purchasing 16,000 shares valued at approximately $1.24 million.
• Arista Networks reported earnings of $0.73 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, alongside a revenue of $2.20 billion, up 30.4% compared to the previous year.
• Arista Networks has initiated a $1.50 billion share repurchase program, signaling confidence from the company's leadership regarding the valuation of its shares.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 16,000 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,240,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Varenne Capital Partners raised its position in Arista Networks by 267.1% in the 1st quarter. Varenne Capital Partners now owns 479,827 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,177,000 after buying an additional 349,132 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Arista Networks by 26.2% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 204,842 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $15,871,000 after purchasing an additional 42,486 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its stake in Arista Networks by 7.5% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,923,936 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $226,547,000 after purchasing an additional 203,340 shares in the last quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management grew its stake in Arista Networks by 9.2% in the first quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management now owns 33,709 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,612,000 after purchasing an additional 2,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LGT Group Foundation grew its stake in Arista Networks by 27.1% in the first quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 154,020 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $11,933,000 after purchasing an additional 32,796 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. KGI Securities lowered Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $151.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $138.07.

Arista Networks Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE ANET traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $137.23. The company had a trading volume of 6,054,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,893,038. The company has a market capitalization of $172.48 billion, a PE ratio of 53.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $109.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.12. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.43 and a twelve month high of $141.99.

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

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

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,785,165 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.22, for a total value of $243,175,176.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,698,074 shares of the company's stock, valued at $776,191,640.28. This trade represents a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,767,742 shares of company stock worth $714,048,068. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.