Chiron Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Chiron Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 404.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,032 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,118 shares during the period. Arista Networks comprises approximately 1.8% of Chiron Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Chiron Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $5,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ANET. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $242,000. GHE LLC lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 319.0% during the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 28,368 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,136,000 after buying an additional 21,597 shares in the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 327.6% in the 4th quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 9,745 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after acquiring an additional 7,466 shares during the period. Unified Investment Management purchased a new stake in Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth $630,000. Finally, Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. raised its position in Arista Networks by 257.6% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. now owns 76,950 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,505,000 after acquiring an additional 55,430 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ANET. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.50.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.55, for a total value of $620,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 139,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,840,249.20. This represents a 5.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total transaction of $12,988,391.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,697,137.08. This trade represents a 59.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 411,031 shares of company stock valued at $39,364,943. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:ANET opened at $72.50 on Monday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $133.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.43 billion, a PE ratio of 32.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $88.74 and a 200-day moving average of $100.14.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. As a group, analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.