Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Key Points

• Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC significantly reduced its stake in Arista Networks by 81.1%, selling 96,544 shares to now hold 22,500 shares worth approximately $1.74 million.
• Arista Networks reported an EPS of $0.65 in its latest quarterly earnings, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $2 billion reflecting a year-over-year growth of 27.6%.
• Arista Networks' board has authorized a $1.50 billion stock repurchase program, indicating confidence in the company's valuation and reducing shares outstanding by up to 1.3%.

Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC lowered its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 81.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,500 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 96,544 shares during the quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $1,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 330.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,648,129 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,371,848,000 after acquiring an additional 44,269,572 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 277.5% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 311.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 18,293,874 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 218.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 14,454,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Arista Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,397,833,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $794,880.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total transaction of $76,663,118.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,072,900. The trade was a 96.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,177,878 shares of company stock worth $119,281,861. Company insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:ANET traded up $0.33 on Friday, reaching $114.37. 4,866,258 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,009,131. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a fifty day moving average of $98.86 and a 200-day moving average of $94.94. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $59.43 and a 52-week high of $133.57.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share 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 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.