Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. by 12.7% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 209,359 shares worth approximately $144.2 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Cresset Asset Management, also grew their stakes in Arista Networks, highlighting significant interest from hedge funds and institutional investors.
• Arista Networks reported better-than-expected earnings of $0.73 EPS for the quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate, and announced a $1.5 billion share buyback program, signaling management's confidence in the stock's value.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 12.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,860,547 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 209,359 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.15% of Arista Networks worth $144,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ANET. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Arista Networks by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,856,933 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,581,955,000 after acquiring an additional 1,771,982 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 277.5% during the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,288,583 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,016,207,000 after buying an additional 20,059,303 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $933,626,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 330.8% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 11,292,585 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,248,169,000 after buying an additional 8,671,235 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 354.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,942,816 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,098,979,000 after buying an additional 7,753,991 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 864 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.68, for a total transaction of $99,083.52. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,460 shares in the company, valued at $855,512.80. The trade was a 10.38% 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 26,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.19, for a total transaction of $2,890,940.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 582,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,757,056. This trade represents a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,574,763 shares of company stock valued at $687,094,691 over the last quarter. 3.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arista Networks Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of ANET stock opened at $137.65 on Tuesday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $141.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.01 billion, a PE ratio of 54.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $106.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.12.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. Analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ANET shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. BNP Paribas lowered Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Arista Networks from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, 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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