First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Purchases 1,326 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 33.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,310 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $1,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 872.7% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the first quarter worth $37,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter valued at $40,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Trading Up 2.4 %

ANET stock traded up $8.41 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $365.42. 1,210,192 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,265,628. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.10 and a 52-week high of $365.42. The stock has a market cap of $114.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.89, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $309.96 and its 200 day moving average is $282.02.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arista Networks news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.83, for a total transaction of $511,660.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 56,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,568,495.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $357.00, for a total transaction of $8,925,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,595,800 shares in the company, valued at $569,700,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,946 shares in the company, valued at $14,568,495.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 214,118 shares of company stock worth $68,528,038 over the last quarter. 3.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, June 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $313.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $311.50.

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.