Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 232.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 68,722 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 48,068 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $7,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 304.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,084,951 shares of the technology company's stock worth $10,620,270,000 after acquiring an additional 72,311,318 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 330.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,648,129 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,371,848,000 after purchasing an additional 44,269,572 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 277.5% during the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,288,583 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,016,207,000 after purchasing an additional 20,059,303 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 311.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,665,829,000 after purchasing an additional 18,293,874 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 218.5% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 21,070,016 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,328,869,000 after buying an additional 14,454,822 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Arista Networks stock traded down $2.25 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $95.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,288,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,076,220. The stock has a market cap of $120.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.43 and a twelve month high of $133.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $79.58 and a 200-day moving average of $97.25.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. Arista Networks's revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total transaction of $159,409.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,128 shares of the company's stock, valued at $870,752.64. This represents a 15.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.07, for a total transaction of $7,205,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,168,748.32. This trade represents a 86.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 412,355 shares of company stock valued at $37,216,079 over the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ANET shares. KGI Securities lowered shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.14.

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.