Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Stake Lifted by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 306.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,433,425 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,835,421 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Arista Networks worth $268,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Arista Networks by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,237,635 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,313,229,000 after purchasing an additional 411,109 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 293.2% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 6,750,793 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $746,165,000 after buying an additional 5,034,022 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,871,481 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,246,705,000 after acquiring an additional 236,151 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Arista Networks by 307.7% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,632,730 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $512,056,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Arista Networks by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,660,695 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,021,228,000 after acquiring an additional 492,615 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.02, for a total transaction of $896,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 155,784 shares in the company, valued at $17,450,923.68. The trade was a 4.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.47, for a total value of $9,477,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,266.72. This represents a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 255,832 shares of company stock worth $28,538,497 in the last quarter. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arista Networks Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ANET opened at $115.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $145.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s fifty day moving average is $112.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.48. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.08 and a 12-month high of $133.57.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 40.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current 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.