Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Has $13.22 Million Stock Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 5.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,571 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,588 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $13,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 185.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 17,032 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,939,000 after purchasing an additional 11,073 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 490.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 73,654 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $21,358,000 after buying an additional 61,186 shares in the last quarter. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in Arista Networks during the first quarter valued at about $42,000. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 9.5% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 13,786 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,998,000 after buying an additional 1,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in Arista Networks during the first quarter valued at about $521,767,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.91, for a total value of $97,867.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $706,518.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 356 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.91, for a total transaction of $97,867.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $706,518.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 14,416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.03, for a total transaction of $4,700,048.48. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 252,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,284,103.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 205,116 shares of company stock valued at $67,657,035. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on ANET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $349.00 to $432.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $353.38.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of Arista Networks stock traded down $19.30 on Friday, hitting $319.34. 2,699,855 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,492,396. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $332.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $297.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.32 billion, a PE ratio of 44.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.11. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $168.25 and a one year high of $376.50.

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. Arista Networks had a net margin of 39.01% and a return on equity of 30.50%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.