Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 6.3% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Arista Networks' stock price dropped by 6.3% to $143.39, with trading volume decreasing significantly to 2.48 million shares compared to its average of 10.33 million shares.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Arista, with Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and Evercore ISI all setting targets at $175, suggesting a positive outlook despite the recent drop.
• CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1.79 million shares, reducing her ownership by 23.86%, highlighting possible insider selling trends at the company.

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 6.3% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $143.07 and last traded at $143.39. Approximately 2,483,485 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 10,326,359 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.04.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on ANET shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $115.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $154.07.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $178.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.50. The stock's 50 day moving average is $126.11 and its 200-day moving average is $99.86.

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

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 1,785,165 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.22, for a total value of $243,175,176.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,698,074 shares of the company's stock, valued at $776,191,640.28. This represents a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 6,334,926 shares of company stock valued at $795,392,998 over the last ninety days. 3.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. American Trust grew 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 worth $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 5,862 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew 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 worth $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew 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 worth $55,909,000 after purchasing an additional 238,837 shares during the period. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,373,000. Finally, Stance Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,426,000. Hedge funds and other 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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