Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET Shares Acquired by Smith Salley Wealth Management

Key Points

• Smith Salley Wealth Management increased its stake in Arista Networks by 5.0%, acquiring an additional 8,712 shares, bringing their total to 184,030 shares valued at approximately $18.8 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have recently boosted their holdings in Arista Networks, contributing to a high institutional ownership of 82.47% of the company's stock.
• Analysts are optimistic about Arista Networks, with a consensus target price of $162.00 and many ratings categorized as "Buy," indicating strong growth expectations for the company.

Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 5.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 184,030 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,712 shares during the period. Arista Networks accounts for 1.1% of Smith Salley Wealth Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Smith Salley Wealth Management's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $18,828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ibex Wealth Advisors boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 14.4% in the first quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 58,093 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,501,000 after acquiring an additional 7,329 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $629,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 19.8% during the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 613,309 shares of the technology company's stock worth $47,519,000 after purchasing an additional 101,162 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $15,227,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 94.8% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 650,011 shares of the technology company's stock worth $50,363,000 after acquiring an additional 316,309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $151.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Arista Networks from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $162.00.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of ANET stock opened at $142.53 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $134.23 and its 200-day moving average is $104.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.14 billion, a PE ratio of 56.06, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.50. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $156.32.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.08. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 40.90%.The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. Arista Networks's quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,247,688 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.53, for a total transaction of $185,319,098.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 5,383,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $799,567,735.71. The trade was a 18.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 58,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.42, for a total transaction of $8,608,360.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,520,816 shares of company stock valued at $979,873,167. Insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

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.

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