148,812 Shares in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Purchased by Eastern Bank

Key Points

• Eastern Bank acquired 148,812 shares of Arista Networks, valued at approximately $11.5 million, during the first quarter.
• Significant institutional investments were made in Arista Networks, with firms like FMR LLC and Cresset Asset Management increasing their stakes by over 270% in the last quarter.
• The stock recently traded up 3.0% to $122.21 and has seen a 27.6% year-over-year revenue growth.

Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 148,812 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $11,530,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ANET. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 330.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,648,129 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,371,848,000 after purchasing an additional 44,269,572 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 277.5% in the 4th quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,288,583 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,016,207,000 after purchasing an additional 20,059,303 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 311.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,165,355 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,665,829,000 after purchasing an additional 18,293,874 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 330.8% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 11,292,585 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,248,169,000 after purchasing an additional 8,671,235 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 271.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,190,118 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,236,844,000 after purchasing an additional 8,175,884 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 864 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.68, for a total transaction of $99,083.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $855,512.80. The trade was a 10.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.19, for a total transaction of $2,890,940.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 582,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,757,056. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,766,742 shares of company stock valued at $187,313,267 in the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ANET shares. Wolfe Research began coverage on Arista Networks in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Arista Networks from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp began coverage on Arista Networks in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.40.

Arista Networks Trading Up 3.0%

ANET stock traded up $3.59 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $122.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,823,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,639,893. The company has a market cap of $153.49 billion, a PE ratio of 51.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.40. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $59.43 and a 12 month high of $133.57. The firm's 50-day moving average is $100.34 and its 200-day moving average is $95.03.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 40.72%. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. Arista Networks's revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.