Prudential PLC Buys 2,124 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• Prudential PLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 1.2% in Q1, acquiring 2,124 additional shares, bringing its total to 176,103 shares, valued at approximately $13.64 million.
• Insider trading activity includes CEO Jayshree Ullal selling 1,785,165 shares at an average price of $136.22, resulting in a total transaction value of over $243 million, which decreased her ownership by nearly 24%.
• Arista Networks reported a quarterly revenue increase of 30.4% year-over-year, with an EPS of $0.73, exceeding analysts' expectations, and has initiated a $1.50 billion share repurchase program.

Prudential PLC raised its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 176,103 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,124 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $13,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HighMark Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 179.7% in the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 381.5% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 415.7% in the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,785,165 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.22, for a total value of $243,175,176.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,698,074 shares in the company, valued at $776,191,640.28. This trade represents a 23.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,767,742 shares of company stock valued at $714,048,068. 3.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arista Networks Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of ANET stock opened at $141.17 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $177.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.37. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $141.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $107.49 and a 200-day moving average of $95.44.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. Analysts anticipate 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 program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the subject of several recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $151.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, KGI Securities downgraded shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.07.

Arista Networks Company 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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