Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. Acquires 172,568 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 298.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 230,304 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 172,568 shares during the quarter. Arista Networks makes up 1.3% of Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $25,456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ANET. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 132 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 2,133.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 134 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 35.0% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 135 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 186.0% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 143 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of ANET stock opened at $115.43 on Thursday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.08 and a 52 week high of $133.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $112.28 and a 200-day moving average of $99.36. The company has a market cap of $145.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.09.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.29% and a return on equity of 30.52%. The business’s revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ANET shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 71,036 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.06, for a total value of $7,107,506.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 70,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,289.82. This trade represents a 50.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John F. Mccool sold 6,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.58, for a total transaction of $625,013.05. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,391.76. The trade was a 95.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 255,832 shares of company stock worth $28,538,497 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

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.