Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. Trims Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. decreased its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 27.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 520 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FCG Investment Co increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 2.3% during the second quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 1,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Old Port Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 3.5% during the first quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 955 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 33.3% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 132 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 2.1% during the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,782 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 21.5% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 215 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Stock Up 2.0 %

ANET stock traded up $6.79 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $353.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,548,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,486,699. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $168.25 and a 52-week high of $376.50. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $344.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $308.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.22, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ANET shares. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $340.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $349.00 to $432.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $353.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 216 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.02, for a total transaction of $69,988.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,278.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 25,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $347.00, for a total value of $8,675,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,600,800 shares in the company, valued at $555,477,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 216 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.02, for a total transaction of $69,988.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,726 shares in the company, valued at $883,278.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 128,296 shares of company stock worth $44,532,174. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.