Probity Advisors Inc. Lowers Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Probity Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,830 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 494 shares during the period. Probity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $1,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ANET. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 5.1% in the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 2,455 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $190,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 188.4% in the first quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 821,800 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $63,673,000 after buying an additional 536,864 shares in the last quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 125.0% in the first quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,702 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 2,612 shares in the last quarter. Allianz SE lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 6.5% in the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 49,296 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,819,000 after buying an additional 3,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 19.8% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 613,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,519,000 after buying an additional 101,162 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.07, for a total value of $7,205,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,168,748.32. This represents a 86.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total value of $76,663,118.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,072,900. This trade represents a 96.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,635,562 shares of company stock worth $291,955,743. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ANET. Erste Group Bank upgraded Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays decreased their target price on Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.00.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

ANET opened at $117.56 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $147.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $101.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.81. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $59.43 and a one year high of $133.57.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 40.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.