Weaver Capital Management LLC Raises Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Weaver Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 305.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,287 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,033 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $2,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 8.5% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 52,476 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,141,000 after purchasing an additional 4,108 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 87.1% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,158 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,980,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401 shares during the period. Chapin Davis Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,106,000. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks in the 3rd quarter worth $1,544,000. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the third quarter valued at about $2,275,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.25 price objective (up previously from $86.25) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.83.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of ANET stock opened at $115.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $145.01 billion, a PE ratio of 55.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $112.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.48. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.08 and a 1 year high of $133.57.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 40.29%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Arista Networks’s revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 71,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.06, for a total transaction of $7,107,506.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,289.82. This trade represents a 50.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John F. Mccool sold 288 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.70, for a total value of $31,305.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 255,832 shares of company stock valued at $28,538,497. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arista Networks 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.