Advisors Asset Management Inc. Increases Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 21.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,783 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $4,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 872.7% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Arista Networks in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks in the first quarter valued at $42,000. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ANET traded up $5.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $319.21. The stock had a trading volume of 2,351,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,894,565. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.10 and a 1-year high of $376.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.45, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $330.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $294.98.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.24. Arista Networks had a net margin of 37.64% and a return on equity of 31.12%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.20 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John F. Mccool sold 416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.54, for a total transaction of $105,888.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider John F. Mccool sold 416 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.54, for a total transaction of $105,888.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 1,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.54, for a total value of $265,739.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 210,076 shares of company stock valued at $68,928,479. 3.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $311.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on Arista Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Arista Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.12.

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.