Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Purchases Shares of 150,000 Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 150,000 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $16,580,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Polar Capital Holdings Plc grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 167.9% during the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,294,732 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $253,637,000 after buying an additional 1,438,193 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 338.5% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 220,532 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $24,375,000 after buying an additional 170,239 shares in the last quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 342.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,084 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 3,160 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 376.2% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 227,278 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,121,000 after acquiring an additional 179,546 shares during the period. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 293.6% during the fourth quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 101,156 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,197,000 after purchasing an additional 75,459 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:ANET traded down $0.79 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $95.91. 2,627,442 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,034,585. The stock has a market cap of $120.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.15, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.43 and a twelve month high of $133.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $80.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.19.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and set a $89.00 price target (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group upgraded Arista Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $107.14.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total value of $12,988,391.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,641 shares in the company, valued at $8,697,137.08. The trade was a 59.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.07, for a total value of $7,205,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,168,748.32. This trade represents a 86.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 410,867 shares of company stock valued at $37,056,669 over the last three months. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by 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.