Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Stake Raised by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 474.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 235,813 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 194,750 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $26,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $242,000. GHE LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 319.0% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 28,368 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,136,000 after purchasing an additional 21,597 shares in the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 327.6% during the fourth quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 9,745 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 7,466 shares in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $630,000. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 395.8% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 18,593 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,072,000 after purchasing an additional 14,843 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Stock Down 1.3 %

Arista Networks stock opened at $83.96 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.89. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.08 and a 12 month high of $133.58. The stock has a market cap of $105.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.85, for a total value of $6,788,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,101,013.60. The trade was a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 163,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,263,553.84. The trade was a 4.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 491,001 shares of company stock worth $49,112,111 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.00.

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.