SHEPHERD WEALTH MANAGEMENT Ltd LIABILITY Co Sells 1,878 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• SHEPHERD WEALTH MANAGEMENT Ltd LIABILITY Co reduced its position in Arista Networks by 29%, reducing its holdings to 4,606 shares valued at approximately $357,000.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their positions in Arista Networks, with Brighton Jones LLC lifting its holdings by 321.7% and Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG by 433.7% in the previous quarter.
• Arista Networks reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.73, exceeding analysts' estimates, and the company also announced a $1.50 billion share buyback plan, signaling confidence in its stock valuation.

SHEPHERD WEALTH MANAGEMENT Ltd LIABILITY Co decreased its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 29.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,606 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,878 shares during the quarter. Arista Networks comprises 0.4% of SHEPHERD WEALTH MANAGEMENT Ltd LIABILITY Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. SHEPHERD WEALTH MANAGEMENT Ltd LIABILITY Co's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its position in 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 worth $3,016,207,000 after purchasing an additional 20,059,303 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $933,626,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 330.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 8,671,235 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 354.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 7,753,991 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 278.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,641,326 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $955,126,000 after acquiring an additional 6,357,753 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ANET. Wedbush began coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. BNP Paribas cut Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $138.07.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.01, for a total value of $936,080.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 57,784 shares in the company, valued at $6,761,305.84. This trade represents a 12.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 864 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.68, for a total value of $99,083.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $855,512.80. This represents a 10.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,767,742 shares of company stock worth $714,048,068. Insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Stock Up 0.5%

Arista Networks stock traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $137.23. 6,053,112 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,596,345. The business has a fifty day moving average of $109.18 and a 200 day moving average of $95.98. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $59.43 and a 1-year high of $141.99. The company has a market capitalization of $172.48 billion, a PE ratio of 53.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.37.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 40.90%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.