Point72 Asset Management L.P. Has $333.93 Million Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 244.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,021,154 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,143,032 shares during the period. Arista Networks makes up 0.7% of Point72 Asset Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Point72 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $333,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ANET. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $242,000. GHE LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 319.0% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 28,368 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,136,000 after acquiring an additional 21,597 shares during the period. Colonial River Investments LLC boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 327.6% in the 4th quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 9,745 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 7,466 shares during the period. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $630,000. Finally, Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 257.6% in the 4th quarter. Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. now owns 76,950 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,505,000 after purchasing an additional 55,430 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.85, for a total transaction of $6,788,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,101,013.60. This trade represents a 86.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 51,848 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.59, for a total transaction of $4,593,214.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 412,355 shares of company stock worth $37,216,079. Company insiders own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ANET has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, KGI Securities lowered shares of Arista Networks to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.14.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of ANET stock opened at $97.86 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $122.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $79.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.25. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $59.43 and a one year high of $133.58.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. Arista Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.