Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Up 1.3% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Arista Networks shares rose 1.3% to $191.09 in mid-day trading, while trading volume was 37% below the average session volume. The stock has a $241.01 billion market capitalization and trades at a P/E ratio of 60.28.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $226.05. Several firms recently raised their targets, including Needham to $260, Piper Sandler to $240 and Morgan Stanley to $220.
• Arista exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.02 in EPS versus the $0.89 consensus and $3.04 billion in revenue, up 37.7% year over year. However, insiders sold 3.7 million shares worth approximately $665.8 million over the past three months, primarily under pre-arranged trading plans.

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $195.70 and last traded at $191.09. Approximately 5,424,842 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 8,661,521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $181.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $226.05.

Arista Networks Stock Up 1.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $241.01 billion, a PE ratio of 60.28, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.60. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $170.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.48.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.13. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.37% and a return on equity of 30.65%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. Arista Networks's quarterly revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.080 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.30, for a total transaction of $60,990,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 181,443,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,887,371,658.40. This represents a 0.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total value of $154,341,575.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 16,387,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,297,589,536.82. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,707,811 shares of company stock worth $665,839,139. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ANET. Monetta Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the second quarter valued at $1,019,000. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 229.0% in the 2nd quarter. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab now owns 154,997 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,331,000 after acquiring an additional 107,887 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 824,943 shares of the technology company's stock worth $140,141,000 after purchasing an additional 29,689 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $12,542,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 174,820 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,698,000 after purchasing an additional 7,744 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arista Networks Company Profile

Arista Networks, Inc is a technology company that designs and sells cloud networking solutions for large-scale data centers and enterprise environments. The company is best known for its high-performance switching and routing platforms, which are used to build scalable, low-latency networks for cloud service providers, internet companies, financial services, telecommunications, and enterprise IT. Arista's offerings emphasize programmability, automation and telemetry to support modern, software-driven network architectures.

Central to Arista's product portfolio is its Extensible Operating System (EOS), a modular network operating system that provides consistent programmability, stateful control and advanced visibility across the company's hardware platforms.

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