First United Bank & Trust Makes New $3.37 Million Investment in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 43,500 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,370,000. Arista Networks accounts for about 1.3% of First United Bank & Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ANET. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Arista Networks by 321.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,806 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 5,955 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $202,000. Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 318.1% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 11,503 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,271,000 after purchasing an additional 8,752 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC lifted its position in Arista Networks by 300.4% during the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 3,900 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 87.7% during the fourth quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 2,284 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

ANET stock opened at $94.25 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $118.38 billion, a PE ratio of 42.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $84.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.48. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $59.43 and a one year high of $133.58.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.49, for a total value of $102,187.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $512,305.20. This trade represents a 16.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.58, for a total transaction of $708,640.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 131,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,673,426.72. This represents a 5.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 105,690 shares of company stock worth $9,360,205 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on ANET. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $140.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Arista Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $106.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.38.

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.