XTX Topco Ltd Buys 77,413 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd has significantly increased its stake in Arista Networks by 1,155.6%, acquiring an additional 77,413 shares to reach a total of 84,112 shares worth approximately $6.5 million.
• Following recent transactions, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares, representing a 96.15% decrease in her ownership, while insiders collectively sold over 1.17 million shares in the last 90 days.
• Arista Networks announced a $1.5 billion share buyback program, indicating the board's belief that the company’s shares are currently undervalued.

XTX Topco Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 1,155.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 84,112 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 77,413 shares during the quarter. Arista Networks comprises approximately 0.3% of XTX Topco Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $6,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Foundation Advisors boosted its position in Arista Networks by 7.3% during the first quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 42,895 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,324,000 after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in Arista Networks during the first quarter worth $4,253,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 1,163.0% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 29,162 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,259,000 after acquiring an additional 26,853 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 1.3% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,586,400 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $122,914,000 after acquiring an additional 20,106 shares during the period. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 26.5% in the first quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,506 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ANET. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KGI Securities cut shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total transaction of $76,663,118.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,072,900. This represents a 96.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total transaction of $794,880.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,177,878 shares of company stock valued at $119,281,861. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

NYSE:ANET opened at $117.53 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $147.61 billion, a PE ratio of 49.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.67. Arista Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.43 and a fifty-two week high of $133.57.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. Research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ANET? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.