Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Shares Purchased by Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC

Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 319.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,979 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,500 shares during the period. Arista Networks comprises approximately 1.7% of Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $2,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $242,000. GHE LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 319.0% in the 4th 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 grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 327.6% during the 4th 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 during the period. Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $630,000. Finally, Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 257.6% in the 4th quarter. Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. now owns 76,950 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,505,000 after purchasing an additional 55,430 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arista Networks Stock Down 9.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ANET opened at $64.28 on Friday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.08 and a 52-week high of $133.58. The stock has a market cap of $81.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $94.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.29.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group upgraded Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered 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, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 51,848 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.59, for a total transaction of $4,593,214.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total value of $159,409.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $870,752.64. The trade was a 15.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 491,001 shares of company stock valued at $48,840,431 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

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.