Howard Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 317.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,104 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,642 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ANET. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 395.8% in the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 18,593 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,072,000 after buying an additional 14,843 shares in the last quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 387.6% in the 4th quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 6,120 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 4,865 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its stake in Arista Networks by 292.7% during the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 602,541 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $66,599,000 after acquiring an additional 449,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Arista Networks by 338.4% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,281 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 7,936 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Arista Networks news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.65, for a total value of $825,300.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.29, for a total transaction of $8,663,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,405,171.04. The trade was a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 260,056 shares of company stock valued at $30,225,623 in the last three months. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $106.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research report 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.79.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

ANET stock opened at $92.61 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.80 billion, a PE ratio of 41.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average of $113.18 and a 200-day moving average of $102.07. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $60.08 and a one year high of $133.57.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.