Bessemer Group Inc. Buys 9,522 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 104.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,677 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,522 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $5,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ANET. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in Arista Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 872.7% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 3,625.0% in the fourth quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 149 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank lifted its position in Arista Networks by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 155 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $297.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup increased their price target on Arista Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Arista Networks from $325.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.12.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 1,044 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.54, for a total transaction of $265,739.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Arista Networks news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.70, for a total value of $7,414,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,550.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marc Taxay sold 1,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.54, for a total value of $265,739.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 210,076 shares of company stock valued at $68,928,479. 3.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arista Networks Trading Down 6.0 %

Shares of ANET stock traded down $20.73 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $325.92. 2,644,732 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,435,764. The company has a market capitalization of $102.13 billion, a PE ratio of 46.61, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.11. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.10 and a 52 week high of $376.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $330.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $294.11.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.12% and a net margin of 37.64%. On average, research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

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

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.