M & L Capital Management Ltd Makes New $35.59 Million Investment in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

M & L Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 322,000 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,591,000. Arista Networks makes up about 8.7% of M & L Capital Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intellectus Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 1.4% in the third quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its stake in Arista Networks by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 417 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 5,862 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 135 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 2.3% in the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,621 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total value of $12,988,391.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,697,137.08. This represents a 59.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.51, for a total value of $892,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 163,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,263,553.84. This represents a 4.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 491,001 shares of company stock valued at $49,112,111. Corporate insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Trading Up 4.3 %

Arista Networks stock opened at $83.58 on Friday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.08 and a 1-year high of $133.58. The firm has a market cap of $105.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $105.75 and a 200-day moving average of $101.71.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ANET shares. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $108.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group upgraded Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

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.