Pacer Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Arista Networks by 21.8%, owning a total of 206,579 shares valued at approximately $16 million.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their positions during the last quarter, with 82.47% of Arista's stock now owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Arista Networks reported a 27.6% year-over-year revenue increase, totaling $2 billion, and topped EPS estimates by $0.06 during its latest earnings report.

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 21.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 206,579 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,967 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $16,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. HighMark Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 179.7% during the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 381.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 415.7% during the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANET has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. BNP Paribas cut Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Wedbush began coverage on Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $89.00 target price (up from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.40.

Arista Networks Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE ANET traded up $2.83 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $121.45. The company had a trading volume of 3,296,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,482,577. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.43 and a twelve month high of $133.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.53 billion, a PE ratio of 51.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $99.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.84.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 40.72%. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total value of $76,663,118.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,072,900. The trade was a 96.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.07, for a total value of $7,205,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,168,748.32. This trade represents a 86.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,239,440 shares of company stock valued at $126,362,429. Insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

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.