Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Buys New Shares in Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. has invested approximately $992,000 in Arista Networks by acquiring 12,800 shares, reflecting its interest in the technology sector according to a recent SEC filing.
• Despite recent insider selling, with CEO Jayshree Ullal divesting over 1.7 million shares, institutional ownership remains high at 82.47% of the company's stock.
• Arista's earnings report exceeded expectations, reporting $2.20 billion in revenue and $0.73 earnings per share, leading to various positive analyst ratings and a consensus "Moderate Buy" outlook.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. acquired a new stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 12,800 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $992,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 5.1% in the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 2,455 shares of the technology company's stock worth $190,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,960 shares of the technology company's stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 31.3% in the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 525 shares of the technology company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. PFG Advisors increased its stake in Arista Networks by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 5,061 shares of the technology company's stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 9.4% during the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,624 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on ANET shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $89.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. KGI Securities downgraded shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.07.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 192,979 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.67, for a total value of $26,953,376.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 5,623,721 shares in the company, valued at $785,465,112.07. This trade represents a 3.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.51, for a total transaction of $4,095,300.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,771,353.76. This trade represents a 69.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,823,574 shares of company stock worth $721,676,802. Company insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Arista Networks stock traded up $0.4540 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $131.9240. 5,872,054 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,009,626. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.43 and a 12-month high of $141.99. The stock has a market cap of $165.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.37. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $113.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.79.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. The business's revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors 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.