Congress Asset Management Co. MA Buys 2,993 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 504,113 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,993 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA owned about 0.16% of Arista Networks worth $118,724,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwest Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $188,000. Vima LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $114,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. American International Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 74,512 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $17,548,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $2,373,000. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Yvonne Wassenaar sold 223 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.34, for a total value of $70,543.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,976 shares in the company, valued at $941,427.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 1,040 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.28, for a total value of $303,971.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Yvonne Wassenaar sold 223 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.34, for a total value of $70,543.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,427.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 299,950 shares of company stock worth $89,972,030 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANET has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their price target on Arista Networks from $306.00 to $349.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Arista Networks from $268.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.17.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ANET traded down $3.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $328.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,147,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,166,285. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $290.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $270.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.08. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $148.32 and a 1-year high of $331.75.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.12% and a net margin of 37.64%. Analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.20 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.