Plato Investment Management Ltd Boosts Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 5,204.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,357 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 5,256 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $1,553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in Arista Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 872.7% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Trading Down 2.3 %

ANET stock traded down $8.13 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $338.42. The company had a trading volume of 4,258,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,498,007. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $168.25 and a 52 week high of $376.50. The stock has a market cap of $106.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.20, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $331.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $296.91.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.38. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.81% and a net margin of 39.01%. 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 firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.40, for a total value of $588,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 54,946 shares in the company, valued at $16,176,102.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 205,116 shares of company stock valued at $67,657,035. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Arista Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on Arista Networks from $320.00 to $341.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Arista Networks from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $349.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.