Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET Shares Sold by Norris Perne & French LLP MI

Key Points

• Norris Perne & French LLP MI reduced its Arista stake by 33.5% in Q4, selling 21,452 shares and leaving 42,499 shares worth about $5.57 million.
• Significant insider selling recently: Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares (about $3.49M) and insiders have sold 199,632 shares (~$26.87M) over the last 90 days, with company insiders now owning 3.39% of Arista.
• Arista reported strong quarterly results and has bullish analyst sentiment: Q results beat expectations (EPS $0.82 vs. $0.75; revenue $2.49B, up 28.9% YoY), and analysts have an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $176.44.

Norris Perne & French LLP MI cut its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 33.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,499 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 21,452 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $5,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ANET. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 56.7% during the third quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 199 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 141.3% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 222 shares of the technology company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ANET opened at $151.93 on Tuesday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $66.59 and a one year high of $164.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $134.24 and a 200-day moving average of $135.87. The company has a market capitalization of $190.90 billion, a PE ratio of 55.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.48.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.07. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.37% and a net margin of 38.99%.The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Arista Networks news, insider Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.14, for a total transaction of $3,487,640.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 502,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $67,391,936. The trade was a 4.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Yvonne Wassenaar sold 1,395 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.34, for a total transaction of $187,404.30. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,501,786.86. This trade represents a 11.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 199,632 shares of company stock valued at $26,873,604 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $178.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group set a $200.00 target price on Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Arista Networks from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $188.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded Arista Networks to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $176.44.

Arista Networks Company Profile

Arista Networks, Inc is a technology company that designs and sells cloud networking solutions for large-scale data centers and enterprise environments. The company is best known for its high-performance switching and routing platforms, which are used to build scalable, low-latency networks for cloud service providers, internet companies, financial services, telecommunications, and enterprise IT. Arista's offerings emphasize programmability, automation and telemetry to support modern, software-driven network architectures.

Central to Arista's product portfolio is its Extensible Operating System (EOS), a modular network operating system that provides consistent programmability, stateful control and advanced visibility across the company's hardware platforms.

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