Retirement Systems of Alabama Boosts Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 297.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 223,655 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 167,335 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $24,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ANET. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 1,012.0% during the fourth quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC grew its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 300 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

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

Arista Networks Price Performance

Arista Networks stock opened at $115.43 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.36. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $60.08 and a one year high of $133.57. The company has a market capitalization of $145.41 billion, a PE ratio of 55.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price 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 cut their target price on Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $105.25 price objective (up from $86.25) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently 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.