Smithfield Trust Co Boosts Stock Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Smithfield Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 144.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,065 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,405 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ANET. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 298.2% in the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 38,330 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,237,000 after purchasing an additional 28,705 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Arista Networks by 295.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,588,682 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $175,597,000 after buying an additional 1,186,841 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH raised its position in Arista Networks by 304.3% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 149,620 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,537,000 after purchasing an additional 112,611 shares during the period. Mason Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Mason Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,940 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $657,000 after purchasing an additional 4,455 shares during the period. Finally, SWS Partners raised its position in Arista Networks by 302.1% in the fourth quarter. SWS Partners now owns 20,405 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,255,000 after purchasing an additional 15,331 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com cut Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.29, for a total transaction of $8,663,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,405,171.04. The trade was a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.51, for a total transaction of $892,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 163,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,263,553.84. This represents a 4.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 491,289 shares of company stock worth $51,018,617. 3.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

ANET stock opened at $87.83 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.56, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.09. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.08 and a 1 year high of $133.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $110.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.14.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.