Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Has $184.35 Million Stock Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 635,715 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,986 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.20% of Arista Networks worth $184,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ANET. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Arista Networks by 872.7% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 3,625.0% during the 4th quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 149 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Sandy Spring Bank increased its position in Arista Networks by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 155 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of ANET opened at $365.42 on Thursday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.10 and a 52 week high of $365.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $307.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $281.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.24. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.12% and a net margin of 37.64%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $357.00, for a total value of $8,925,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,595,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $569,700,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $357.00, for a total value of $8,925,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,595,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $569,700,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.05, for a total value of $5,801,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $940,922.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 214,118 shares of company stock valued at $68,528,038 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ANET shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $297.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $311.50.

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.