Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 1,115.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,743,800 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,435,686 shares during the quarter. Arista Networks makes up about 1.4% of Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $413,802,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. Caitlin John LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 174.7% in the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 335.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks Trading Up 6.3 %

NYSE:ANET opened at $75.25 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $81.23 and a 200-day moving average of $98.52. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.43 and a twelve month high of $133.58. The firm has a market cap of $94.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.30.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 51,848 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.02, for a total value of $896,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 155,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,450,923.68. The trade was a 4.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 412,355 shares of company stock valued at $39,446,799 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ANET. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $108.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $118.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $121.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.29.

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.