Man Group plc Buys 888,592 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Man Group plc lifted its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 254.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,238,016 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 888,592 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned 0.10% of Arista Networks worth $136,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Caitlin John LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 174.7% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 335.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.07, for a total transaction of $7,205,600.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 8,128 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 412,355 shares of company stock valued at $37,216,079. Company insiders own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Trading Up 5.3%

NYSE:ANET opened at $97.24 on Wednesday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $59.43 and a 1 year high of $133.58. The stock has a market cap of $122.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.80, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.25.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ANET. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. KGI Securities lowered Arista Networks to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $89.00 target price (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.14.

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.