Sapient Capital LLC Trims Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Sapient Capital LLC reduced its position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 33.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 974 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 481 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 20.3% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 36,329 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,535,000 after purchasing an additional 6,133 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Arista Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $1,405,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Arista Networks by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 51,301 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,082,000 after acquiring an additional 3,763 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Arista Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $3,238,000. Finally, Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $662,000. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks Stock Up 0.7 %

ANET stock traded up $2.32 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $338.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 432,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,465,476. The company has a market capitalization of $105.96 billion, a PE ratio of 46.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.11. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $168.25 and a 12 month high of $376.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $334.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $300.53.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.38. Arista Networks had a net margin of 39.01% and a return on equity of 30.50%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. Arista Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.70, for a total value of $7,414,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,550.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 832 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $243,892.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 17,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,183,008.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.70, for a total transaction of $7,414,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,550.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 165,066 shares of company stock worth $55,544,894 in the last ninety days. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ANET has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $340.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $353.38.

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.