Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Invests $50.08 Million in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 453,088 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $50,080,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 330.4% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 3,116 shares of the technology company's stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 2,392 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth $213,000. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 28.3% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 7,316 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares in the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 282.2% in the 4th quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,100 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 2,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 414.8% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,582 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,692 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks Stock Up 0.8%

Arista Networks stock traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $93.20. 2,397,519 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,956,676. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $81.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.81. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $59.43 and a 12 month high of $133.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.98, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. The firm's revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program 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 programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,168,748.32. The trade was a 86.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 51,848 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.59, for a total value of $4,593,214.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 237,538 shares of company stock worth $20,748,219 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.47.

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.