Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,316 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 661 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $2,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ANET. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $881,848,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth $586,051,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,494,876 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,946,338,000 after buying an additional 1,596,040 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 25,188.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 613,739 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,445,420,000 after buying an additional 611,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Arista Networks by 145.5% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 794,935 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $187,215,000 after acquiring an additional 471,099 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ANET. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $320.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $349.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Arista Networks from $325.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $302.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, Director Yvonne Wassenaar sold 223 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.34, for a total transaction of $70,543.82. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,427.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Yvonne Wassenaar sold 223 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.34, for a total transaction of $70,543.82. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,427.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.70, for a total transaction of $7,414,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,550.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 210,076 shares of company stock valued at $68,928,479. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ANET traded up $5.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $319.21. The company had a trading volume of 2,351,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,894,565. The company has a market capitalization of $100.03 billion, a PE ratio of 44.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $330.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $295.33. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.10 and a 1-year high of $376.50.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. On average, analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.