Stifel Financial Corp Increases Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 324.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 688,006 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 525,754 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.05% of Arista Networks worth $76,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. 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. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group upgraded Arista Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $85.00 to $55.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $104.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arista Networks news, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.61, for a total value of $9,248,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,500,155.36. This trade represents a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.49, for a total value of $102,187.08. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $512,305.20. This represents a 16.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 412,355 shares of company stock valued at $39,446,799. 3.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ANET traded up $4.49 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $75.25. 11,753,218 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,109,106. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.43 and a 12-month high of $133.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $81.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.52. The firm has a market cap of $94.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a P/E/G 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

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.