Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 2,972,823 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 303.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,952,415 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,972,823 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.31% of Arista Networks worth $436,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 2,133.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 134 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Caitlin John LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 174.7% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 335.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ANET. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 163,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,263,553.84. This represents a 4.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total transaction of $159,409.44. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $870,752.64. The trade was a 15.47 % 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 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ANET opened at $77.48 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.83. Arista Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.08 and a fifty-two week high of $133.58. The firm has a market cap of $97.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current 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.