Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Shares Bought by National Pension Service

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. by 7.5% during the 1st quarter, owning roughly 2.9 million shares valued at $226.5 million.
• Several investment firms, including JPMorgan Chase and UBS Group, have recently raised their price targets for Arista Networks, indicating a positive outlook for the stock.
• Arista Networks reported $2.20 billion in quarterly revenue and an earnings per share of $0.73, from a consensus estimate of $0.65, showcasing strong year-over-year growth.

National Pension Service grew its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 7.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,923,936 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 203,340 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.23% of Arista Networks worth $226,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ANET. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 277.5% in the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,288,583 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,016,207,000 after acquiring an additional 20,059,303 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Arista Networks in the first quarter worth $933,626,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 330.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 11,292,585 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,248,169,000 after acquiring an additional 8,671,235 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Arista Networks by 354.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,942,816 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,098,979,000 after acquiring an additional 7,753,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 278.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,641,326 shares of the technology company's stock worth $955,126,000 after acquiring an additional 6,357,753 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Price Performance

NYSE:ANET traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $137.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,054,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,893,038. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $109.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.20. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.43 and a twelve month high of $141.99. The stock has a market cap of $172.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.37.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,785,165 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.22, for a total transaction of $243,175,176.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,698,074 shares in the company, valued at $776,191,640.28. The trade was a 23.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,767,742 shares of company stock valued at $714,048,068. Company insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ANET has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI set a $150.00 target price on Arista Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on Arista Networks from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. KGI Securities lowered Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $151.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.07.

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.