Smith Salley Wealth Management Increases Stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Smith Salley Wealth Management increased its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 145.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 175,318 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 103,923 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $13,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ANET. DSG Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,984,000. Ibex Wealth Advisors lifted its stake 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. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $630,000. Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 257.6% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. now owns 76,950 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,505,000 after acquiring an additional 55,430 shares during the period. Finally, Bradyco Inc. bought a new position in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $836,000. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Trading Up 1.1%

Arista Networks stock traded up $1.12 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $102.25. The stock had a trading volume of 5,287,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,854,623. The firm's fifty day moving average is $91.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.50. The company has a market capitalization of $128.41 billion, a PE ratio of 43.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.40. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $59.43 and a 52-week high of $133.57.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total transaction of $76,663,118.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,072,900. This trade represents a 96.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.18, for a total transaction of $705,440.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 123,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,915,273.12. This trade represents a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,115,400 shares of company stock valued at $112,364,640. 3.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.33.

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.