Nuveen Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 330.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,292,585 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 8,671,235 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.90% of Arista Networks worth $1,248,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ANET. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,672 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 2,004 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 373.2% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 85,705 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,473,000 after buying an additional 67,592 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 371.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,750 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 2,955 shares in the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA grew its stake in Arista Networks by 262.7% during the fourth quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 2,176 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 305.6% in the 4th quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 4,449 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 3,352 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

NYSE:ANET opened at $97.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.13 billion, a PE ratio of 43.80, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.29 and its 200 day moving average is $97.25. Arista Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.43 and a fifty-two week high of $133.58.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ANET shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 51,848 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.59, for a total transaction of $4,593,214.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total value of $12,988,391.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,697,137.08. The trade was a 59.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 412,355 shares of company stock valued at $37,216,079 in the last ninety days. 3.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.