Quantbot Technologies LP Purchases Shares of 232,789 Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP has acquired a new stake in Arista Networks, purchasing 232,789 shares valued at approximately $18 million, making it the firm's 15th largest position.
• Insider trades reveal CEO Jayshree Ullal sold nearly 193,000 shares, decreasing her ownership by 3.32%, while Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares, representing a 12.16% drop in his stake.
• Arista Networks recently reported better-than-expected earnings, with a revenue increase of 30.4% year-over-year, and announced a share buyback plan allowing repurchase of $1.5 billion worth of shares.

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 232,789 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $18,036,000. Arista Networks accounts for 0.6% of Quantbot Technologies LP's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 415.7% during the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. HighMark Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 179.7% during the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Arista Networks by 214.5% during the 4th quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 368 shares of the technology company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 192,979 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.67, for a total value of $26,953,376.93. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,623,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $785,465,112.07. This trade represents a 3.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.01, for a total value of $936,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 57,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,761,305.84. The trade was a 12.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,767,742 shares of company stock worth $714,048,068. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Arista Networks stock opened at $137.23 on Monday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $109.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.99. The company has a market capitalization of $172.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.37. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $59.43 and a 1 year high of $141.99.

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, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. The business's revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. KGI Securities downgraded shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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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