Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 317.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 205,984 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 156,592 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $22,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Main Street Research LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,583,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 457.6% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 333,702 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,884,000 after buying an additional 273,853 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 368.9% during the 4th quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 2,254 shares in the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 284.7% during the 4th quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 527 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mount Lucas Management LP lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 230.0% during the 4th quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP now owns 3,148 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 2,194 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,488 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now owns 8,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $870,752.64. The trade was a 15.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.47, for a total value of $9,477,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,266.72. The trade was a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 491,001 shares of company stock valued at $49,112,111. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Arista Networks Price Performance

NYSE:ANET opened at $77.53 on Tuesday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.08 and a 1 year high of $133.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $102.10. The company has a market cap of $97.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.92, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ANET. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.00.

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.