Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Purchases 40,080 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 293.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,733 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,080 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $5,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ANET. Potentia Wealth purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $1,843,000. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth $1,572,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,668 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $184,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 302.5% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 168,064 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $18,576,000 after acquiring an additional 126,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FineMark National Bank & Trust grew its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 12,120 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 9,090 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Trading Down 0.7 %

Arista Networks stock opened at $86.87 on Wednesday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.08 and a 1-year high of $133.58. The firm has a market cap of $109.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $101.47 and a 200-day moving average of $101.98.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 29.91% and a net margin of 40.72%. Research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ANET. UBS Group upgraded Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.85, for a total value of $6,788,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,101,013.60. This represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,641 shares of the company’s stock, 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 491,001 shares of company stock valued at $49,112,111. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.