Wedmont Private Capital Increases Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,360 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $1,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,007 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,208,000 after acquiring an additional 3,034 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Arista Networks by 2.7% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,535 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,249,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $340,000. Rathbones Group PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,775,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 119,124 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $21,910,000 after buying an additional 22,670 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of ANET opened at $337.37 on Friday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $148.32 and a one year high of $345.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $295.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.82. The company has a market capitalization of $105.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.08.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 37.64% and a return on equity of 31.12%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 23,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.24, for a total value of $6,813,520.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,651,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $489,329,232. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 23,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.24, for a total transaction of $6,813,520.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,651,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,329,232. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.26, for a total value of $592,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 58,946 shares in the company, valued at $17,463,341.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 257,950 shares of company stock valued at $78,433,340 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ANET shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Arista Networks from $311.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $268.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.78.

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.