Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 1,665,099 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 289.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,241,084 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,665,099 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.18% of Arista Networks worth $247,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on Arista Networks from $85.00 to $55.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group upgraded Arista Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Arista Networks from $118.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $104.29.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

NYSE:ANET traded up $2.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $70.81. The stock had a trading volume of 11,578,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,103,885. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $82.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.87. The stock has a market cap of $88.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.30. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.43 and a twelve month high of $133.58.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $12,988,391.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,697,137.08. The trade was a 59.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.55, for a total value of $620,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 139,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,840,249.20. This trade represents a 5.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 410,863 shares of company stock worth $39,344,612. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arista Networks Company Profile

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.