Essential Planning LLC. Makes New Investment in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Essential Planning LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,000 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ANET. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 293.2% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 6,750,793 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $746,165,000 after purchasing an additional 5,034,022 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 320.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,457,263 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $713,721,000 after purchasing an additional 4,919,882 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake 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 valued at $678,308,000 after purchasing an additional 4,579,622 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 292.8% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 196.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,342,064 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $732,493,000 after purchasing an additional 4,201,973 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Arista Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total value of $12,988,391.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,697,137.08. This represents a 59.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.51, for a total transaction of $892,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 163,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,263,553.84. This trade represents a 4.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 491,001 shares of company stock valued at $49,112,111 in the last three months. 3.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arista Networks Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Arista Networks stock opened at $80.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.08, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $106.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.73. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.08 and a 52 week high of $133.58.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm 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, research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks Company 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.