Comerica Bank Trims Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Comerica Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,305 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,305 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $20,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ANET. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 36,329 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,535,000 after buying an additional 6,133 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in Arista Networks in the first quarter valued at about $1,405,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Arista Networks by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 51,301 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,082,000 after purchasing an additional 3,763 shares during the period. M&G Plc purchased a new position in Arista Networks in the first quarter valued at about $3,238,000. Finally, Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $662,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Price Performance

NYSE ANET traded down $12.93 on Thursday, hitting $333.62. 3,118,483 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,489,910. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $168.25 and a 52-week high of $376.50. The company has a market capitalization of $104.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $331.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $296.91.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.38. Arista Networks had a net margin of 39.01% and a return on equity of 31.81%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.20 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,550.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.00, for a total transaction of $7,925,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,615,800 shares in the company, valued at $512,208,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.70, for a total transaction of $7,414,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,550.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 205,116 shares of company stock valued at $67,657,035. 3.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ANET. Bank of America raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Arista Networks from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Arista Networks from $302.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Arista Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Arista Networks from $325.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $345.82.

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.