GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC Buys 15,310 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• GRIMES & Co Wealth Management initiated a position in Arista Networks, buying 15,310 shares worth approximately $3.12 million in the third quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 82.47% of the company’s stock.
• Arista reported quarterly EPS of $1.20, beating the $1.08 estimate, and revenue of $3.66 billion, up 58.5% year over year and above forecasts. Gross margin slipped, while the fourth-quarter outlook raised some concerns about the pace of growth.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive view: 23 rate the stock Buy or Strong Buy, and the average price target is $232.95. Insiders sold about 2.49 million shares worth roughly $503 million over the past three months.

GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 15,310 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,117,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ANET. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 52.3% in the 3rd quarter. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd now owns 40,200 shares of the technology company's stock worth $8,184,000 after acquiring an additional 13,800 shares in the last quarter. Greenfield Seitz Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Arista Networks by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Greenfield Seitz Capital Management LLC now owns 23,243 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,732,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Signature Equity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 3.9% during the third quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 12,668 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,579,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 9.7% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 21,308 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Wealth Group LLC Co. lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 34.6% during the third quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC Co. now owns 2,235 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Arista Networks

Here are the key news stories impacting Arista Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter earnings were $1.20 per share versus the $1.08 consensus, while revenue of $3.66 billion exceeded the $3.33 billion estimate and rose 58.5% year over year. The company said revenue growth was its strongest since its IPO, and operating margin widened. Article: Arista Networks Q3 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management’s fourth-quarter outlook was characterized as strong, supporting expectations for continued demand for Arista’s networking products amid AI and data-center expansion. Article: Arista Networks Stock Pops on Q3 Earnings Beat, Strong Q4 Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Gross margin slipped as product sales made up a larger share of revenue, and coverage flagged a slower pace of growth in the fourth-quarter outlook. These trends could raise questions about the durability of margin gains and rapid growth. Article: Arista Revenue Up 58% as Q4 Outlook Slows

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 573,509 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total transaction of $119,364,428.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,203,250. This trade represents a 95.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total value of $59,685,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 180,543,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,919,039,399.60. This represents a 0.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,487,846 shares of company stock valued at $503,417,253. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ANET. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $250.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $181.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $250.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $289.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $232.95.

Arista Networks Stock Up 3.3%

ANET opened at $169.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $213.88 billion, a PE ratio of 53.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.10. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.52 and a 52 week high of $217.41.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The technology company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.12. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.65% and a net margin of 38.37%. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 58.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks Profile

Arista Networks, Inc develops and sells cloud networking solutions for data centers, cloud service providers, enterprises and specialized computing environments. The company's products are designed to support high-performance, scalable and automated networks used for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data analytics and other demanding applications.

Arista's portfolio includes data center and campus switches, routing platforms, wireless networking products, network operating software and network management tools.

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