DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Buys 3,157,989 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 232.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,518,916 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 3,157,989 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main owned approximately 0.36% of Arista Networks worth $499,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caitlin John LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 174.7% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 335.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 381.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 415.7% in the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 263 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.58, for a total value of $708,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 131,784 shares in the company, valued at $11,673,426.72. The trade was a 5.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 owns 92,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 sold 332,355 shares of company stock worth $30,010,479. 3.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ANET. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.57.

Arista Networks Price Performance

NYSE:ANET opened at $86.51 on Thursday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $59.43 and a 1-year high of $133.58. The company has a market capitalization of $108.62 billion, a PE ratio of 38.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $78.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.50.

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

Arista Networks announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding 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 usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Arista Networks Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.