WT Asset Management Ltd Buys 106,400 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

WT Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 1,064.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 116,400 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 106,400 shares during the period. Arista Networks comprises 4.0% of WT Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. WT Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $40,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John F. Mccool sold 2,575 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.38, for a total transaction of $912,528.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 72 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,515.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 832 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction of $243,892.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,183,008.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John F. Mccool sold 2,575 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.38, for a total transaction of $912,528.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 72 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,515.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 126,704 shares of company stock valued at $43,975,690 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Arista Networks stock traded up $2.96 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $355.13. The company had a trading volume of 975,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,402,217. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $168.25 and a one year high of $376.50. The firm has a market cap of $111.28 billion, a PE ratio of 49.46, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $343.38 and a 200 day moving average of $306.19.

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

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on ANET shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Arista Networks from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup increased their target price on Arista Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Arista Networks from $325.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Arista Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $353.38.

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.