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

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 300.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,359,381 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,019,825 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Arista Networks worth $150,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. HM Payson & Co. boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 132 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 2,133.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 134 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 135 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 75.0% during the 3rd quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 175 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ANET. UBS Group lifted their price target on Arista Networks from $92.25 to $106.25 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $102.50 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Arista Networks from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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, Barclays dropped their target price on Arista Networks from $495.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 71,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.06, for a total value of $7,107,506.98. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,289.82. This represents a 50.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.65, for a total value of $825,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 42,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,721,666.90. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 335,832 shares of company stock valued at $37,787,297. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of Arista Networks stock opened at $106.64 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.09. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $60.08 and a one year high of $133.57.

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.