Kovack Advisors Inc. Buys 6,263 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 296.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,378 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,263 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 293.2% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 6,750,793 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $746,165,000 after acquiring an additional 5,034,022 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 294.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,136,864 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $678,308,000 after purchasing an additional 4,579,622 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 292.8% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 6,053,181 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $674,627,000 after purchasing an additional 4,512,166 shares in the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 259.7% in the 4th quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,188,878 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $573,527,000 after purchasing an additional 3,746,407 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 307.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,632,730 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $512,056,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,497 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of Arista Networks stock opened at $91.50 on Friday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.08 and a 12-month high of $133.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $112.19 and its 200-day moving average is $102.02. The stock has a market cap of $115.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.09.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $106.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com cut Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.79.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.29, for a total value of $8,663,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,405,171.04. This represents a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.65, for a total transaction of $825,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,721,666.90. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 416,008 shares of company stock worth $44,854,958. 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.