Financial Advocates Investment Management Takes $265,000 Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Financial Advocates Investment Management purchased a new position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 757 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,606 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 94,442 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $22,276,000 after buying an additional 5,350 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 44,786 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,548,000 after acquiring an additional 4,367 shares in the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $513,000. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE ANET opened at $346.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.11. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $168.25 and a 12-month high of $376.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $343.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $307.63.

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

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

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 1,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.55, for a total transaction of $556,483.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 186,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,226,030. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Arista Networks news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.02, for a total transaction of $69,988.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $883,278.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 1,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.55, for a total transaction of $556,483.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 186,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,226,030. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 128,296 shares of company stock worth $44,532,174. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ANET shares. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $320.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Arista Networks from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $353.38.

About Arista Networks

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.