Nutshell Asset Management Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• Nutshell Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. by 89.7% in Q1, owning 99,832 shares valued at approximately $7.7 million.
• CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 880,180 shares of Arista Networks, reducing ownership by 12.9%, while total insider sales in the last three months reached 3.44 million shares valued at $395.5 million.
• Arista Networks reported Q2 earnings of $0.73 EPS, exceeding estimates, and experienced a 30.4% year-over-year revenue increase, with a market capitalization nearing $175 billion.

Nutshell Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 89.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 99,832 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,216 shares during the quarter. Arista Networks comprises approximately 4.0% of Nutshell Asset Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Nutshell Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $7,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ANET. DSG Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,984,000. Ibex Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 14.4% during the first quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 58,093 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,501,000 after acquiring an additional 7,329 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $629,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 613,309 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $47,519,000 after purchasing an additional 101,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 94.8% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 650,011 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $50,363,000 after purchasing an additional 316,309 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 880,180 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.79, for a total transaction of $109,837,662.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,944,405 shares in the company, valued at $741,802,299.95. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.19, for a total value of $3,335,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,442,801.44. The trade was a 69.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,443,742 shares of company stock valued at $395,523,885 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE ANET opened at $139.26 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.41. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $59.43 and a 12 month high of $141.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.90 billion, a PE 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 released 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 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 the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. Arista Networks's revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side 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 initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on ANET shares. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $89.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas cut Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $138.07.

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.

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