Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Shares Acquired by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,244 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ANET. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,898,836 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,131,433,000 after acquiring an additional 84,212 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 32.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,318,633 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,897,906,000 after acquiring an additional 2,515,864 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,024,220 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $716,649,000 after acquiring an additional 16,081 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 5.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,403,738 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $442,120,000 after acquiring an additional 114,978 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,807,494 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $425,683,000 after acquiring an additional 14,627 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

NYSE ANET opened at $273.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.13. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $133.42 and a 1 year high of $307.74. The business’s fifty day moving average is $279.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $251.25.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The technology company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 35.62%. The firm’s revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.77, for a total transaction of $388,155.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,575,312.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.77, for a total transaction of $388,155.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,575,312.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.52, for a total transaction of $573,040.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 60,946 shares in the company, valued at $17,462,247.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 337,054 shares of company stock valued at $96,529,086. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ANET shares. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $232.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $240.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.53.

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.