Strategic Advocates LLC Grows Stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Strategic Advocates LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 975.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,129 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,793 shares during the period. Arista Networks comprises 0.7% of Strategic Advocates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Strategic Advocates LLC's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $1,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 174,831 shares of the technology company's stock worth $13,546,000 after purchasing an additional 5,741 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in Arista Networks by 2.7% in the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 46,111 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,573,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 139 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 66.3% during the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,321 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $180,000 after acquiring an additional 925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 2,261.2% during the 1st quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 3,589 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 3,437 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 864 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.68, for a total transaction of $99,083.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at $855,512.80. This trade represents a 10.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 588,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.15, for a total transaction of $70,060,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 6,105,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $727,495,703.95. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,346,742 shares of company stock valued at $256,664,827. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank raised Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, KGI Securities cut shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $114.00.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of ANET stock opened at $123.47 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $100.95 and a 200 day moving average of $95.10. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $59.43 and a 1 year high of $133.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management 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.

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