Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 14.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,549,313 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 189,932 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Arista Networks worth $120,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HighMark Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 179.7% in the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 358 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in Arista Networks by 381.5% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 415.7% in the 4th 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. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 45.8% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 455 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 748,444 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.43, for a total transaction of $76,663,118.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,072,900. This represents a 96.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.18, for a total value of $705,440.00. Following the sale, the director owned 123,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,915,273.12. The trade was a 6.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,123,400 shares of company stock worth $113,159,520 in the last ninety days. 3.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ANET. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $89.00 price objective (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.33.

Arista Networks Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Arista Networks stock traded up $1.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $102.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,296,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,105,538. The company has a market cap of $128.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.40. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $59.43 and a 1-year high of $133.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.33.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 40.72%. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. The business's revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management 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.