218,796 Shares in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Purchased by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 218,796 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $16,952,000. Arista Networks comprises 1.1% of Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ANET. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 330.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,648,129 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,371,848,000 after buying an additional 44,269,572 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 277.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 20,059,303 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 311.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,665,829,000 after purchasing an additional 18,293,874 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Arista Networks by 218.5% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 21,070,016 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,328,869,000 after purchasing an additional 14,454,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,397,833,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:ANET traded up $1.02 on Thursday, hitting $114.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,161,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,577,154. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $59.43 and a one year high of $133.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $98.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.40.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ANET has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KGI Securities downgraded shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Arista Networks in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wedbush initiated coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.40.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total value of $794,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 65,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,536,298.24. This represents a 10.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,072,900. This represents a 96.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,177,878 shares of company stock worth $119,281,861. 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.