Syntax Research Inc. Takes Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• Syntax Research Inc. acquired 22,000 shares of Arista Networks, Inc. worth approximately $1.7 million in the 1st quarter.
• Insider trading activity revealed significant sales, including a director selling 8,000 shares and the SVP selling 30,000 shares, indicating a decrease in their positions.
• Arista Networks recently announced a share repurchase plan of $1.50 billion, suggesting the management believes the stock is undervalued.

Syntax Research Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 22,000 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,705,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors boosted its position in Arista Networks by 2.7% in the first quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 5,061 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 45.8% in the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 455 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 0.8% in the first quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 21,449 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,662,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arista Networks Trading Up 0.3%

Arista Networks stock traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $114.37. 4,866,258 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,009,131. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.43 and a 12-month high of $133.57. The firm has a market cap of $143.64 billion, a PE ratio of 48.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.94.

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

Arista Networks announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ANET shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BNP Paribas cut Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Barclays dropped their target price on Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, 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 research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $111.40.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total value of $794,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 65,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,536,298.24. This represents a 10.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 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 $2,890,940.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 582,400 shares in the company, valued at $64,757,056. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,177,878 shares of company stock valued at $119,281,861. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

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.