Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Down 4.8% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Arista Networks' stock dropped 4.8% in trading, closing at $142.08, which is a significant decrease from the previous close of $149.27.
• Equity analysts remain bullish, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $162.00, following multiple upgrades from various firms.
• The company's latest quarterly earnings report showed a 30.4% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year, alongside better-than-expected earnings per share of $0.73.

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 4.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $141.73 and last traded at $142.08. 3,562,873 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 10,240,274 shares. The stock had previously closed at $149.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $89.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Arista Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $172.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $162.00.

Arista Networks Trading Down 3.7%

The firm has a market cap of $180.73 billion, a PE ratio of 56.52, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.47. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $136.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.52.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.79, for a total transaction of $4,253,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,839,867.04. This trade represents a 69.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,247,688 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.53, for a total transaction of $185,319,098.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,383,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,567,735.71. The trade was a 18.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,670,904 shares of company stock valued at $892,841,241. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 6.9% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 396,269 shares of the technology company's stock worth $40,542,000 after purchasing an additional 25,660 shares during the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the second quarter valued at $4,577,000. American Trust boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 49.6% in the second quarter. American Trust now owns 17,671 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 5,862 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 5.3% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 12,490 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 77.2% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 548,356 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $55,909,000 after purchasing an additional 238,837 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is 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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