Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,399,597 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 45,440 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.45% of Arista Networks worth $329,619,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in Arista Networks during the third quarter worth about $791,000. Advisor Resource Council raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 507.9% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 7,021 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,653,000 after buying an additional 5,866 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 4,445 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in Arista Networks by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,024,220 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $716,649,000 after acquiring an additional 16,081 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc increased its stake in Arista Networks by 62.7% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 113,851 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,813,000 after acquiring an additional 43,889 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of Arista Networks stock traded up $19.96 on Wednesday, reaching $293.95. 5,634,220 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,503,671. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $279.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $251.25. The company has a market cap of $91.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.13. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.42 and a 1-year high of $307.74.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The technology company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 35.62% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $297.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $240.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $232.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $289.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.31, for a total transaction of $5,686,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,244 shares in the company, valued at $922,301.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Arista Networks news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.31, for a total transaction of $5,686,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $922,301.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.77, for a total value of $388,155.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,575,312.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 337,054 shares of company stock worth $96,529,086. 3.54% of the stock is currently 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.