Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC Buys 809,859 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC grew its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 217.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,182,032 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 809,859 shares during the quarter. Arista Networks accounts for about 1.4% of Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC owned about 0.09% of Arista Networks worth $130,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Arista Networks by 304.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,084,951 shares of the technology company's stock worth $10,620,270,000 after buying an additional 72,311,318 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 330.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,648,129 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,371,848,000 after acquiring an additional 44,269,572 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 311.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,665,829,000 after acquiring an additional 18,293,874 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 218.5% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 21,070,016 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,328,869,000 after acquiring an additional 14,454,822 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,397,833,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Price Performance

ANET stock traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $80.45. The company had a trading volume of 4,407,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,097,644. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $59.43 and a 1-year high of $133.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $79.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.01. The company has a market capitalization of $101.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.02, for a total transaction of $896,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 155,784 shares in the company, valued at $17,450,923.68. This represents a 4.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the firm's 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 directly owns 92,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,697,137.08. This trade represents a 59.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 412,355 shares of company stock worth $39,446,799. Insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ANET. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Erste Group Bank cut Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $121.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.43.

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.