Sierra Summit Advisors LLC Purchases 35,815 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• Sierra Summit Advisors LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 44.0%, acquiring an additional 35,815 shares during the first quarter, making Arista Networks 17th largest holding in their portfolio.
• CEO Jayshree Ullal sold over 1.78 million shares of Arista Networks stock, representing a 23.86% decrease in ownership.
• Arista Networks has initiated a $1.50 billion share repurchase plan, reflecting the board's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 44.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 117,245 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 35,815 shares during the period. Arista Networks accounts for approximately 2.0% of Sierra Summit Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $9,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its stake in Arista Networks by 5.1% in the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 2,455 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $190,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 1.5% in the first quarter. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,960 shares of the technology company's stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its position in Arista Networks by 31.3% during the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 525 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. PFG Advisors raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 2.7% during the first quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 5,061 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 9.4% during the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,624 shares of the technology company's stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,785,165 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.22, for a total transaction of $243,175,176.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 5,698,074 shares in the company, valued at $776,191,640.28. This represents a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.19, for a total transaction of $3,335,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,442,801.44. This represents a 69.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,228,907 shares of company stock valued at $638,699,061. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arista Networks Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of ANET stock opened at $139.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.37. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.43 and a twelve month high of $141.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.54.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.08. The firm 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 was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. Research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has initiated a share 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 repurchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ANET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted 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. BNP Paribas downgraded Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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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