Railway Pension Investments Ltd Acquires 1,500 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Railway Pension Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,100 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $12,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in Arista Networks by 20.3% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 36,329 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,535,000 after purchasing an additional 6,133 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $1,405,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Arista Networks by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 51,301 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,082,000 after acquiring an additional 3,763 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,238,000. Finally, Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $662,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $370.70, for a total value of $7,414,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,550.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.91, for a total transaction of $97,867.96. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $706,518.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,550.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 205,116 shares of company stock valued at $67,657,035. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on ANET. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $349.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, June 14th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Arista Networks from $302.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $340.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $353.38.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ANET traded down $19.30 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $319.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,699,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,492,396. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $168.25 and a 12 month high of $376.50. The stock has a market cap of $100.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $332.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $297.66.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.38. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.50% and a net margin of 39.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.29 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Arista Networks 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.