Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Climb 2.7% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Arista Networks shares rose 2.7% to about $176.95, although trading volume was 46% below the average daily level.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: the stock has an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $233.20, with recent targets ranging from $220 to $255.
• The company reported quarterly EPS and revenue above expectations, with revenue up 37.7% year over year; however, insiders sold 3.63 million shares worth approximately $741.2 million over the past three months.

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 2.7% on Monday. The company traded as high as $179.56 and last traded at $176.9520. 4,197,193 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 7,824,641 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.37.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on ANET shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, August 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $220.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $255.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed 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. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $181.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Arista Networks to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $233.20.

Arista Networks Stock Up 2.7%

The stock has a market cap of $223.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.60. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $196.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.62.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.65% and a net margin of 38.37%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.080 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total transaction of $154,341,575.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 16,387,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,297,589,536.82. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was 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 181,143,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,826,381,658.40. The trade was a 0.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 3,627,449 shares of company stock worth $741,235,386 in the last three months. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ABS Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the second quarter worth $29,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 80.0% during the third quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 180 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 61.9% during the second quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 183 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

About Arista Networks

Arista Networks, Inc develops and sells cloud networking solutions for data centers, cloud service providers, enterprises and specialized computing environments. The company's products are designed to support high-performance, scalable and automated networks used for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data analytics and other demanding applications.

Arista's portfolio includes data center and campus switches, routing platforms, wireless networking products, network operating software and network management tools.

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