Aviva PLC Raises Stock Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Aviva PLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 395.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 643,983 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 514,075 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned 0.05% of Arista Networks worth $71,179,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 304.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,084,951 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,620,270,000 after acquiring an additional 72,311,318 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 311.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,665,829,000 after purchasing an additional 18,293,874 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 218.5% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 21,070,016 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,328,869,000 after purchasing an additional 14,454,822 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,397,833,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 313.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,013,511 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,217,323,000 after purchasing an additional 8,352,816 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Trading Down 9.8 %

Shares of NYSE ANET opened at $64.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $81.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.30. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.08 and a twelve month high of $133.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $94.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.29.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released 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 firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.47, for a total transaction of $9,477,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,537,266.72. This trade represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total transaction of $159,409.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,128 shares in the company, valued at $870,752.64. This represents a 15.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 491,001 shares of company stock worth $48,840,431. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.00.

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.