Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Shares Acquired by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 227.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,814,613 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,429,857 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.62% of Arista Networks worth $863,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ANET. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Caitlin John LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 174.7% during the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings 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. New Millennium Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on ANET. UBS Group upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup upped their target price on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.00.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.61, for a total transaction of $9,248,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,500,155.36. The trade was a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total transaction of $12,988,391.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,697,137.08. This trade represents a 59.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 411,001 shares of company stock worth $39,362,831. 3.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

NYSE:ANET opened at $64.28 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $81.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.30. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.80 and a 52-week high of $133.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $94.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.37.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks 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.