Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Down 5.9% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Arista Networks's stock price decreased by 5.9%, closing at $138.76 after trading as low as $136.79, with a significant trading volume increase of 31% compared to its average.
• Multiple analysts have issued positive ratings, with prices targets raised; BNP Paribas Exane set a target of $172.00, while Goldman Sachs increased theirs to $175.00, contributing to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• CEO Jayshree Ullal sold over 1.7 million shares of the company stock, resulting in a 23.86% decrease in her ownership, amidst overall insider selling of nearly 6.7 million shares in recent months.

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 5.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $136.79 and last traded at $138.76. 13,492,477 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 31% from the average session volume of 10,262,199 shares. The stock had previously closed at $147.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank raised Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $172.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Arista Networks from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $163.94.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $174.40 billion, a PE ratio of 54.58, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.47. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $141.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.58.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.08. Arista Networks had a net margin of 40.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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 at Arista Networks

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,785,165 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 5,698,074 shares of the company's stock, valued at $776,191,640.28. This represents a 23.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,678,904 shares of company stock worth $894,021,161. 3.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,993,100 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $10,127,984,000 after buying an additional 1,136,167 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 1.0% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 26,374,373 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,698,362,000 after acquiring an additional 263,272 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 0.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,576,483 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,606,694,000 after acquiring an additional 128,977 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 9.0% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 22,959,214 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,778,880,000 after acquiring an additional 1,889,198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Arista Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $933,626,000. 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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