PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Buys 3,763 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,301 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,763 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $12,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $662,000. AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $791,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 42,809 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,082,000 after buying an additional 2,535 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council grew its position in Arista Networks by 507.9% in the fourth quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 7,021 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,653,000 after acquiring an additional 5,866 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Arista Networks by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,024,220 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $716,649,000 after acquiring an additional 16,081 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ANET opened at $340.24 on Wednesday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $148.32 and a fifty-two week high of $344.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $292.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $273.04.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.24. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.12% and a net margin of 37.64%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Daniel Scheinman sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.17, for a total value of $328,170.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 37,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,382,510.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Daniel Scheinman sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.17, for a total value of $328,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 37,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,382,510.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 22,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $6,631,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,660,800 shares in the company, valued at $500,648,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 279,950 shares of company stock valued at $85,099,340. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ANET shares. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Arista Networks from $268.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.17.

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.