Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Down 2.4% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Arista Networks' shares decreased by 2.4% on Friday, closing at $154.51 after trading as low as $153.74.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets, with Melius Research increasing theirs from $160.00 to $185.00, maintaining a "buy" rating.
• The company's quarterly earnings showed a net margin of 40.90% and a year-over-year revenue increase of 30.4%, beating analyst expectations.

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 2.4% on Friday . The company traded as low as $153.74 and last traded at $154.51. 10,377,361 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 1% from the average session volume of 10,224,577 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Melius Research raised their price target on Arista Networks from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $89.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $163.94.

Arista Networks Stock Down 2.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $194.19 billion, a PE ratio of 60.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.47. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $140.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.23.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.49, for a total value of $1,179,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 41,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,162,722.16. This represents a 16.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,247,688 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.53, for a total transaction of $185,319,098.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,383,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $799,567,735.71. This trade represents a 18.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,678,904 shares of company stock worth $894,021,161. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter valued at about $629,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Arista Networks by 19.8% during the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 613,309 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $47,519,000 after acquiring an additional 101,162 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Arista Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $15,227,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Arista Networks by 94.8% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 650,011 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $50,363,000 after acquiring an additional 316,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in Arista Networks by 2,317.5% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 6,358 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $493,000 after acquiring an additional 6,095 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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