Two Sigma Investments LP Increases Stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 510.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 460,091 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 384,681 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $50,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ANET. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 863.1% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 24,242 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,679,000 after acquiring an additional 21,725 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 422.8% in the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 12,039 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 9,736 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC raised its stake in Arista Networks by 253.6% during the fourth quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 4,749 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $525,000 after purchasing an additional 3,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Arista Networks by 292.7% during the fourth quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,558 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 2,652 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ANET. UBS Group upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. KGI Securities downgraded Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.14.

Arista Networks Trading Up 0.3%

ANET opened at $96.71 on Tuesday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.43 and a 12-month high of $133.58. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $80.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.19. The company has a market capitalization of $121.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.56, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The company's revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other news, insider John F. Mccool sold 17,433 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.57, for a total transaction of $1,683,504.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total value of $12,988,391.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,697,137.08. The trade was a 59.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 410,867 shares of company stock worth $37,056,669 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

About Arista Networks

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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