Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Shares Acquired by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 20.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 304,698 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 52,411 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.10% of Arista Networks worth $88,356,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,494,876 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,946,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,040 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,136,348 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,387,211,000 after purchasing an additional 55,312 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 0.8% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,049,416 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $884,270,000 after purchasing an additional 25,196 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $586,051,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,807,494 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $425,683,000 after purchasing an additional 14,627 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on ANET shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Arista Networks from $297.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on Arista Networks from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, June 14th. Citigroup increased their target price on Arista Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Arista Networks from $349.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.50.

Arista Networks Trading Down 1.2 %

ANET traded down $4.05 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $332.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,462,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,454,101. Arista Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.10 and a fifty-two week high of $376.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.23 billion, a PE ratio of 45.93, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $328.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $290.70.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.24. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.12% and a net margin of 37.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Research analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.20 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John F. Mccool sold 416 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.54, for a total transaction of $105,888.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider John F. Mccool sold 416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.54, for a total transaction of $105,888.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.83, for a total value of $511,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 56,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,568,495.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 210,076 shares of company stock worth $68,928,479. 3.54% of the stock is 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.