Bank of Montreal Can Boosts Stock Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 263,389 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,052 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.08% of Arista Networks worth $92,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 20.3% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 36,329 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,535,000 after buying an additional 6,133 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Arista Networks in the 1st quarter worth $1,405,000. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the first quarter worth $3,238,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 32.5% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 26,799 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,810,000 after purchasing an additional 6,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cim LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,589,000. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of ANET stock opened at $385.15 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $342.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $318.42. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $168.25 and a 12 month high of $390.00. The company has a market capitalization of $120.69 billion, a PE ratio of 53.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.07.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.50% and a net margin of 39.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.38 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ANET. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, September 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on Arista Networks from $320.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 372 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.74, for a total transaction of $132,707.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $915,038.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 372 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.74, for a total transaction of $132,707.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $915,038.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.70, for a total value of $7,414,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,550.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 107,361 shares of company stock worth $38,024,123 over the last quarter. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.