Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Acquires New Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 31,921 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 3.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,237,635 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,313,229,000 after purchasing an additional 411,109 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 293.2% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 6,750,793 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $746,165,000 after buying an additional 5,034,022 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,871,481 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,246,705,000 after acquiring an additional 236,151 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 307.7% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,632,730 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $512,056,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496,497 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 22.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,660,695 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,021,228,000 after acquiring an additional 492,615 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the 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 owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,405,171.04. This represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.65, for a total value of $825,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 42,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,721,666.90. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 255,832 shares of company stock worth $28,538,497. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ANET. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut their target price on Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.83.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of Arista Networks stock opened at $118.52 on Monday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.08 and a 1-year high of $133.57. The company has a market capitalization of $149.31 billion, a PE ratio of 56.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50-day moving average of $113.21 and a 200-day moving average of $99.91.

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

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.