Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $97.89 Million Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 337,584 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,628 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.11% of Arista Networks worth $97,893,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in Arista Networks by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,463 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $580,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $519,000. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 5,574 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,313,000 after buying an additional 963 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,595 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $847,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 43.8% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 2,521 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $594,000 after buying an additional 768 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ANET has been the topic of several recent research reports. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, June 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $297.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.12.

Arista Networks Stock Down 6.0 %

ANET traded down $20.78 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $325.87. 2,594,604 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,435,691. The business’s 50 day moving average is $330.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.11. Arista Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.10 and a fifty-two week high of $376.50. The stock has a market cap of $102.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.61, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.11.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.24. Arista Networks had a net margin of 37.64% and a return on equity of 31.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.20 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 1,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.54, for a total transaction of $265,739.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 1,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.54, for a total value of $265,739.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.77, for a total transaction of $388,155.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 17,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,575,312.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 210,076 shares of company stock worth $68,928,479. Insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

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.