Empirical Finance LLC Increases Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 297.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,202 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 24,108 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $3,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ANET opened at $118.52 on Friday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.08 and a 12-month high of $133.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $113.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.81. The company has a market capitalization of $149.31 billion, a PE ratio of 56.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.09.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.29, for a total value of $8,663,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,405,171.04. The trade was a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.65, for a total transaction of $825,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,721,666.90. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 255,832 shares of company stock valued at $28,538,497 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ANET shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com lowered Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Arista Networks from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.83.

Arista Networks Company 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.