Benchstone Capital Management LP Invests $22.88 Million in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Benchstone Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 206,985 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,878,000. Arista Networks comprises approximately 2.4% of Benchstone Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caitlin John LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 174.7% during the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 335.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 51,848 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.59, for a total value of $4,593,214.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.47, for a total transaction of $9,477,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,266.72. This trade represents a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 491,001 shares of company stock worth $49,112,111 in the last three months. 3.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of ANET opened at $83.26 on Friday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.08 and a 52-week high of $133.58. The firm has a market cap of $104.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.50, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s fifty day moving average is $102.53 and its 200-day moving average is $101.60.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.