Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 1,019,825 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 300.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,359,381 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,019,825 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $150,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitlin John LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 174.7% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% during 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 last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 300.0% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Arista Networks by 1,012.0% during the fourth quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.65, for a total transaction of $825,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,721,666.90. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,500,155.36. The trade was a 86.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 335,832 shares of company stock worth $37,787,297. 3.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the subject of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $66.25 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Arista Networks from $97.50 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Arista Networks from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.59.

Arista Networks Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE:ANET opened at $106.64 on Tuesday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.08 and a 12-month high of $133.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $113.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.09.

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.