Baird Financial Group Inc. Buys 489,165 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 335.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 634,882 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 489,165 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.05% of Arista Networks worth $70,174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $242,000. GHE LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 319.0% during the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 28,368 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,136,000 after purchasing an additional 21,597 shares in the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 327.6% during the fourth quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 9,745 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 7,466 shares during the period. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $630,000. Finally, Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 257.6% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Capital Holdings Inc. now owns 76,950 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,505,000 after buying an additional 55,430 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the topic of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. KGI Securities downgraded Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.61, for a total value of $9,248,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,500,155.36. This represents a 86.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total value of $12,988,391.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,697,137.08. This represents a 59.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 412,355 shares of company stock worth $39,259,279. Insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of ANET stock traded down $4.26 on Wednesday, reaching $86.51. 17,514,827 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,199,145. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $59.43 and a one year high of $133.58. The company has a market cap of $108.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.97, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $78.89 and a 200-day moving average of $97.50.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.