OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Invests $3.32 Million in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 30,000 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,316,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caitlin John LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 174.7% in the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 335.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in Arista Networks by 381.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 415.7% during the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Arista Networks from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.07.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the company’s 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 now directly owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,168,748.32. This represents a 86.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total value of $159,409.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,128 shares in the company, valued at $870,752.64. This trade represents a 15.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 412,355 shares of company stock worth $37,216,079 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Trading Up 6.6%

Shares of Arista Networks stock opened at $92.26 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $59.43 and a 12 month high of $133.58.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. Arista Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.