Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Raises Stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 9.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 262,414 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,907 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $20,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. DSG Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth $5,984,000. Ibex Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 14.4% during the first quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 58,093 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,501,000 after acquiring an additional 7,329 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Arista Networks during the first quarter worth about $629,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Arista Networks by 227.7% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,814,613 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $863,749,000 after purchasing an additional 5,429,857 shares during the period. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Arista Networks by 357.3% in the fourth quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 65,087 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,194,000 after purchasing an additional 50,855 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.07, for a total value of $7,205,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,168,748.32. The trade was a 86.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.36, for a total value of $794,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 65,784 shares in the company, valued at $6,536,298.24. This represents a 10.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,177,878 shares of company stock valued at $119,281,861. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:ANET opened at $114.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $143.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $98.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.94. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.43 and a twelve month high of $133.57.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Arista Networks 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.