5 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaire David Harding

3. Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Winton Capital Management’s Stake Value: $16,127,000

Percentage of Winton Capital Management’s 13F Portfolio: 0.97%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 38

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, providing cloud networking solutions to internet service providers, financial services organizations, government agencies, and media and entertainment companies, among others. David Harding held a $16.1 million stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) according to the fourth quarter filings, which accounts for 0.97% of the total 13F holdings. 

On February 14, Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) reported its Q4 results, announcing earnings per share of $0.82, exceeding estimates by $0.09. Revenue for the period climbed 27.14% year-over-year to $824.46 million, outperforming analysts’ predictions by $33.75 million. 

Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers upgraded Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) on March 10 to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $160, up from $142. The analyst believes Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) is positioned well for a strong cloud upgrade cycle. He also cited Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s significant inventory and business expansion compared to the Wall Street 2022 product COGS estimates as an indicator of potential revenue upside, in addition to ongoing growth/share gains and portfolio evolution.

According to Insider Monkey’s Q4 database, 38 hedge funds were bullish on Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET), compared to 32 funds in the previous quarter. Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital held the biggest stake in the company, with 1.7 million shares worth $258.6 million. 

Here is what Artisan Mid Cap Fund has to say about Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“Arista Networks is the market leader for cloud networking equipment used in data centers for public, private and hybrid cloud deployments. The company’s top line growth has recently been bolstered by 400G deployments—the next generation of tech powering data centers—and further enterprise network penetration as customers migrate away from Cisco (~80% market share vs. ~5% for Arista). While the profit cycle is nicely in motion, we pared our exposure as shares began to approach our PMV estimate.”