Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC Acquires 43,223 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 390.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,306 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 43,223 shares during the quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $6,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caitlin John LLC lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 174.7% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 335.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 381.5% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ANET. KGI Securities downgraded shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Arista Networks from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group upgraded Arista Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.14.

Arista Networks Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Arista Networks stock traded up $0.08 on Thursday, hitting $92.51. 5,521,637 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,051,613. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.43 and a 12-month high of $133.58. The company has a market cap of $116.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $81.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.15.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arista Networks news, insider John F. Mccool sold 17,433 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.14, for a total value of $1,623,709.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,623,709.62. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total value of $12,988,391.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,697,137.08. The trade was a 59.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 410,755 shares of company stock valued at $37,045,233 over the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Arista Networks 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.