Graham Capital Management L.P. Buys 6,843 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 37.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,931 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,843 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $2,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 304.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,084,951 shares of the technology company's stock worth $10,620,270,000 after acquiring an additional 72,311,318 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 44,269,572 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $3,016,207,000 after purchasing an additional 20,059,303 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 311.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,665,829,000 after purchasing an additional 18,293,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 218.5% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 21,070,016 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,328,869,000 after purchasing an additional 14,454,822 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. KGI Securities lowered shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.14.

Arista Networks Stock Up 0.6%

ANET stock traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $97.86. 11,716,798 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,079,357. The company has a market cap of $122.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $79.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.25. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $133.58.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. Arista Networks's quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. Analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.03, for a total value of $712,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 147,784 shares in the company, valued at $13,157,209.52. This represents a 5.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total transaction of $159,409.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,128 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $870,752.64. The trade was a 15.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 412,355 shares of company stock worth $37,216,079. 3.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.