Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 113.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 51,629 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 27,387 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $4,000,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ANET. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $242,000. DSG Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $5,984,000. GHE LLC increased its stake in Arista Networks by 319.0% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 28,368 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,136,000 after acquiring an additional 21,597 shares during the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 327.6% during the fourth quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 9,745 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 7,466 shares during the period. Finally, Unified Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $630,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 1,492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.49, for a total transaction of $102,187.08. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $512,305.20. This represents a 16.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.55, for a total value of $620,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 139,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,840,249.20. The trade was a 5.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 105,690 shares of company stock worth $9,360,205. 3.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on ANET shares. KGI Securities lowered Arista Networks to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $89.00 target price (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Arista Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $112.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.47.

Arista Networks Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of ANET stock traded up $2.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $97.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,620,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,049,205. The stock has a market cap of $122.19 billion, a PE ratio of 43.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.38. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.43 and a 12-month high of $133.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $83.05 and a 200 day moving average of $96.55.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 6th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.