Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lessened its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 38.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 235,507 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 147,839 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $18,247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighMark Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 179.7% during the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its position in Arista Networks by 381.5% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 415.7% during the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Arista Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total value of $76,663,118.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,072,900. This represents a 96.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.18, for a total transaction of $705,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 123,784 shares in the company, valued at $10,915,273.12. The trade was a 6.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,123,370 shares of company stock valued at $113,157,408 over the last 90 days. 3.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of ANET stock traded up $1.74 on Friday, hitting $108.03. 7,687,323 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,782,448. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $94.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.67 billion, a PE ratio of 45.73, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.40. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.43 and a twelve month high of $133.57.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for 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 company's revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ANET shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Seven 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $110.07.

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.