Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 320 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 872.7% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 107 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 3,625.0% in the fourth quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 149 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Sandy Spring Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 155 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE ANET traded up $2.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $350.48. The company had a trading volume of 2,879,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,332,303. The company has a market capitalization of $109.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.08. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.10 and a 1 year high of $355.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $303.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $279.35.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.12% and a net margin of 37.64%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.20 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 25,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.00, for a total transaction of $7,925,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,615,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $512,208,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 25,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.00, for a total transaction of $7,925,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,615,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $512,208,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John F. Mccool sold 580 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.28, for a total value of $169,522.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 212,950 shares of company stock valued at $64,987,920. Company insiders own 3.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on ANET. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Arista Networks from $313.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Arista Networks from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Arista Networks from $268.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $311.50.

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.