Lighthouse Financial LLC Invests $480,000 in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Lighthouse Financial LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,344 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $480,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $242,000. GHE LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 319.0% in the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 28,368 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,136,000 after purchasing an additional 21,597 shares in the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 327.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management acquired a new position in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $630,000. Finally, Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 257.6% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. now owns 76,950 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,505,000 after buying an additional 55,430 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Stock Up 1.4%

ANET stock opened at $92.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.17 billion, a PE ratio of 41.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.43 and a twelve month high of $133.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $81.73 and its 200-day moving average is $96.81.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Arista Networks from $126.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.03, for a total value of $712,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 147,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,157,209.52. The trade was a 5.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.07, for a total transaction of $7,205,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,168,748.32. The trade was a 86.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 237,538 shares of company stock worth $20,748,219. 3.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.