Forbes J M & Co. LLP Purchases 51,284 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Forbes J M & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 301.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,296 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,284 shares during the period. Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $7,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Arista Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. HM Payson & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 132 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Arista Networks by 2,133.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 134 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 135 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 186.0% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 143 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ANET has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John F. Mccool sold 6,340 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.58, for a total transaction of $625,013.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 288 shares in the company, valued at $28,391.76. This trade represents a 95.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 71,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 70,724 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,289.82. This represents a 50.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 255,832 shares of company stock worth $28,538,497 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of ANET stock opened at $118.52 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $112.87 and a 200-day moving average of $99.58. The company has a market cap of $149.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.09. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.08 and a 52 week high of $133.57.

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