Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,388 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Arista Networks by 0.3% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 32.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 0.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,403,738 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $442,120,000 after buying an additional 114,978 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,807,494 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $425,683,000 after acquiring an additional 14,627 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.52, for a total value of $573,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 60,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,462,247.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 60,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,462,247.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 87,418 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.81, for a total transaction of $24,373,012.58. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 17,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,929,639.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 337,410 shares of company stock valued at $96,626,954 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE ANET opened at $296.19 on Friday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $133.42 and a 52 week high of $307.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $279.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $251.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Arista Networks declared that its board has approved a share buyback 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 a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ANET shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $240.00 to $320.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $313.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $293.00.

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.