WPG Advisers LLC Makes New $165,000 Investment in Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• WPG Advisers LLC has invested approximately $165,000 in Arista Networks, Inc. by acquiring 2,125 shares during the first quarter.
• The stock has seen significant interest from institutional investors, with 82.47% of shares currently held by them, and several firms modifying their holdings recently.
• Arista Networks reported stronger than expected quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $0.73, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65, alongside a revenue increase of 30.4% year-over-year.

WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,125 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $165,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ANET. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 277.5% in the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,288,583 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,016,207,000 after purchasing an additional 20,059,303 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $933,626,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 330.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 11,292,585 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,248,169,000 after purchasing an additional 8,671,235 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 278.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,641,326 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $955,126,000 after purchasing an additional 6,357,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Arista Networks by 289.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,875,759 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $870,513,000 after purchasing an additional 5,851,653 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,771,353.76. This trade represents a 69.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 24,040 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.77, for a total transaction of $3,191,790.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,316,680.09. This represents a 70.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,839,614 shares of company stock worth $724,163,153 in the last quarter. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arista Networks Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of ANET traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $136.46. The stock had a trading volume of 7,957,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,078,280. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.36. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $59.43 and a one year high of $141.99. The firm has a market cap of $171.51 billion, a PE ratio of 53.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.49.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. Arista Networks's quarterly revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ANET shares. Wedbush started coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. KGI Securities lowered shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.07.

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.