Redwood Investments LLC Increases Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Redwood Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 223.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,833 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,987 shares during the period. Arista Networks comprises approximately 0.9% of Redwood Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Redwood Investments LLC’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $3,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Arista Networks by 244.0% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,021,154 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $333,928,000 after buying an additional 2,143,032 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,580,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 167.9% in the fourth quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,294,732 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $253,637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,438,193 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 338.5% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 220,532 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $24,375,000 after purchasing an additional 170,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadcap Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 342.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,084 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 3,160 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $89.00 price objective (up from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.03, for a total value of $712,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 147,784 shares in the company, valued at $13,157,209.52. This trade represents a 5.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total value of $12,988,391.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,697,137.08. The trade was a 59.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 412,355 shares of company stock valued at $37,216,079. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arista Networks Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of ANET opened at $97.86 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.25. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.43 and a twelve month high of $133.58. The company has a market cap of $122.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.