Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Down 2.7% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) stock fell by 2.7% to $134.32, with trading volume decreasing by 79% compared to its daily average.
• Analysts remain generally optimistic, with a majority giving the stock a Buy rating and raising price targets, most notably Goldman Sachs increasing it from $115.00 to $155.00.
• In a move indicating confidence in its valuation, Arista declared a $1.50 billion share buyback program and reported strong quarterly earnings, beating EPS expectations and achieving a 30.4% revenue increase year-over-year.

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) was down 2.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $133.70 and last traded at $134.32. Approximately 2,248,988 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 10,500,587 shares. The stock had previously closed at $138.04.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ANET shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. BNP Paribas cut Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $150.00 price target on Arista Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $138.07.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $167.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $110.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.15.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 40.90%.Arista Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Arista Networks declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 6th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,785,165 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.22, for a total transaction of $243,175,176.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 5,698,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $776,191,640.28. This represents a 23.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,767,742 shares of company stock worth $714,048,068. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Arista Networks by 321.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,806 shares of the technology company's stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 5,955 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $202,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Arista Networks by 433.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 10,856 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,200,000 after acquiring an additional 8,822 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Arista Networks by 289.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,241,084 shares of the technology company's stock worth $247,723,000 after acquiring an additional 1,665,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis lifted its position in Arista Networks by 217.7% during the fourth quarter. Natixis now owns 82,994 shares of the technology company's stock worth $9,173,000 after acquiring an additional 56,873 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

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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