Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Falls 1.1% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Arista Networks shares fell 1.1% to about $202.60, with trading volume 44% below its average. The stock remains above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts remain bullish, with the stock holding an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $230.74; Rosenblatt recently raised its target to $280.
• Arista exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.02 in EPS versus $0.89 expected and $3.04 billion in revenue versus $2.83 billion expected, while revenue grew 37.7% year over year. However, insiders sold substantial shares in the past 90 days, totaling about $745.7 million.

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) dropped 1.1% on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $201.35 and last traded at $202.5950. Approximately 4,533,930 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 8,037,620 shares. The stock had previously closed at $204.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Erste Group Bank raised Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Arista Networks from $210.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Arista Networks from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $230.74.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $191.41 and a 200 day moving average of $167.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.52 billion, a PE ratio of 63.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.62.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.65% and a net margin of 38.37%.Arista Networks's quarterly revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.080 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, CFO Chantelle Breithaupt sold 612 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.77, for a total transaction of $119,811.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 69,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,688,434.17. The trade was a 0.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 13,809 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.79, for a total transaction of $2,648,428.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,917 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,981.43. This represents a 58.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,827,694 shares of company stock worth $745,740,910. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 159.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 121,303,125 shares of the technology company's stock worth $20,606,975,000 after acquiring an additional 74,541,134 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,101,860,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 199.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,630,196 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,635,978,000 after purchasing an additional 6,409,612 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $537,736,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Arista Networks by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,878,360 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,032,302,000 after buying an additional 2,934,098 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

About Arista Networks

Arista Networks, Inc develops and sells cloud networking solutions for data centers, campus environments and high-performance computing applications. Its products include Ethernet switches, routers, wireless access points and related networking equipment designed to support cloud computing, artificial intelligence, enterprise and service-provider networks.

The company's software portfolio includes Arista EOS, its network operating system, and CloudVision, a platform that helps customers manage, automate and monitor network infrastructure.

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