Swedbank AB Acquires 330,598 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its stake in Arista Networks by 4.9%, acquiring an additional 330,598 shares, which now represent about 0.7% of its total holdings.
• Insider transactions revealed that CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1.78 million shares, reducing her ownership by nearly 24%, while insiders collectively sold over 6.33 million shares valued at nearly $795.4 million in the past three months.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Arista Networks, with Citigroup setting a new target of $136 and JPMorgan Chase increasing its target to $150, reflecting a positive outlook on the company's growth prospects.

Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 4.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,081,391 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 330,598 shares during the period. Arista Networks comprises about 0.7% of Swedbank AB's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Swedbank AB owned about 0.56% of Arista Networks worth $548,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. HighMark Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in Arista Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Stock Down 8.9%

NYSE:ANET traded down $13.69 on Friday, hitting $139.35. The stock had a trading volume of 17,882,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,918,403. The company has a market cap of $175.14 billion, a PE ratio of 54.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.50. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $156.32. The business's fifty day moving average is $126.85 and its 200 day moving average is $100.21.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 40.90%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.01, for a total transaction of $936,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 57,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,761,305.84. This trade represents a 12.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.51, for a total value of $4,095,300.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,771,353.76. The trade was a 69.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,582,614 shares of company stock valued at $980,712,097. 3.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ANET shares. BNP Paribas Exane cut Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Erste Group Bank raised Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Arista Networks from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Arista Networks from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wedbush started coverage on Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $157.56.

Arista Networks Company 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.