First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Has $1.54 Million Stock Position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 33.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,310 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $1,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $586,051,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,494,876 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,946,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,040 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 25,188.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 613,739 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,445,420,000 after purchasing an additional 611,312 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 294.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 745,634 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $175,604,000 after purchasing an additional 556,568 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 145.5% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 794,935 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $187,215,000 after purchasing an additional 471,099 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ANET traded up $8.41 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $365.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,210,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,265,628. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $309.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $282.02. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.10 and a twelve month high of $365.42. The firm has a market cap of $114.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.11.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.12% and a net margin of 37.64%. Equities analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 7.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 1,044 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.54, for a total value of $265,739.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Marc Taxay sold 1,044 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.54, for a total value of $265,739.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 4,042 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.99, for a total transaction of $1,212,559.58. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,628,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $488,543,314.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 214,118 shares of company stock valued at $68,528,038 over the last ninety days. 3.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $320.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Arista Networks from $297.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $313.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.