First United Bank & Trust Purchases Shares of 43,500 Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 43,500 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,370,000. Arista Networks accounts for 1.3% of First United Bank & Trust's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DSG Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $5,984,000. Ibex Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Arista Networks by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 58,093 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,501,000 after buying an additional 7,329 shares in the last quarter. GHE LLC lifted its position in Arista Networks by 319.0% during the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 28,368 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,136,000 after buying an additional 21,597 shares in the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC lifted its position in Arista Networks by 327.6% during the 4th quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 9,745 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,077,000 after buying an additional 7,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unified Investment Management bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $630,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.49, for a total transaction of $102,187.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $512,305.20. This trade represents a 16.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.18, for a total transaction of $705,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 123,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,915,273.12. This represents a 6.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 105,690 shares of company stock valued at $9,360,205. Insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ANET traded up $1.45 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $95.66. 8,762,480 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,079,196. The company has a market cap of $120.14 billion, a PE ratio of 43.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.37. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $84.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.48. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $59.43 and a 1-year high of $133.58.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.72% and a return on equity of 29.91%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on ANET shares. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Arista Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $106.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $130.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, KGI Securities lowered shares of Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.38.

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.