Hsbc Holdings PLC Grows Stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 395.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,042,016 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,226,090 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.32% of Arista Networks worth $447,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. Caitlin John LLC boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 174.7% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Arista Networks by 335.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 248 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 264 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 138,351 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,641 shares in the company, valued at $8,697,137.08. The trade was a 59.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.02, for a total value of $896,160.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 155,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,450,923.68. This trade represents a 4.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 412,355 shares of company stock valued at $39,446,799 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Stock Up 6.3 %

Shares of NYSE ANET traded up $4.49 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $75.25. 11,753,218 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,109,106. The company's 50 day moving average price is $81.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.68. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $133.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.49 billion, a PE ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ANET. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Arista Networks from $118.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group raised 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 note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on Arista Networks from $85.00 to $55.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $104.29.

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.