Rafferty Asset Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. by 20.6%, now owning 326,937 shares worth approximately $25.3 million after selling 85,065 shares in the first quarter.
• Arista Networks reported $2.20 billion in revenue for the recent quarter, exceeding analyst estimates of $2.11 billion, with an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.73, surpassing projections of $0.65.
• Multiple investment firms raised their price targets for Arista Networks, with Barclays setting a new target at $151, reflecting strong analyst confidence and an average rating of "Moderate Buy" for the stock.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 20.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 326,937 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 85,065 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $25,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DSG Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $5,984,000. Ibex Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Arista Networks by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 58,093 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,501,000 after acquiring an additional 7,329 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Arista Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $629,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Arista Networks by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 613,309 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $47,519,000 after acquiring an additional 101,162 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in Arista Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $15,227,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arista Networks Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of ANET stock opened at $134.32 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $115.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.04. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $141.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.82 billion, a PE ratio of 52.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.37.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 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 firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ANET shares. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $151.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $89.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $138.07.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 57,784 shares in the company, valued at $6,761,305.84. The trade was a 12.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.51, for a total transaction of $4,095,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,771,353.76. This represents a 69.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,823,574 shares of company stock worth $721,676,802 over the last three months. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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