Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Down 5.9% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Arista Networks shares fell 5.9% to about $187.83, while analysts maintained a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $227.80.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.02 versus $0.89 expected and revenue of $3.04 billion, up 37.7% year over year; Q3 EPS guidance is $1.06–$1.08.
• Insiders sold approximately 3.53 million shares worth $684.7 million in the latest quarter, including substantial sales by CEO Jayshree Ullal and major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim.

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) were down 5.9% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $186.11 and last traded at $187.8330. Approximately 5,650,798 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 8,218,238 shares. The stock had previously closed at $199.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ANET shares. Zacks Research upgraded Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $250.00 price target on Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $255.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $227.80.

Arista Networks Trading Down 5.9%

The company has a market cap of $236.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.62. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $185.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $162.34.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.080 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total transaction of $154,341,575.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 16,387,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,297,589,536.82. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.30, for a total value of $60,990,000.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,527,694 shares of company stock worth $684,665,787. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cura Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cura Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,748 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc increased its position in Arista Networks by 2.8% during the second quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 2,179 shares of the technology company's stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Intrua Financial LLC raised its stake in Arista Networks by 2.7% during the first quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 2,307 shares of the technology company's stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 5,403 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $918,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 247 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Arista Networks

Arista Networks, Inc designs, develops and sells cloud networking solutions for large data centers, cloud service providers, internet companies, enterprises and other organizations. Its portfolio includes high-performance Ethernet switches, routers and wireless networking products used to connect servers, storage systems, users and applications across data center and campus environments.

The company's software offerings include Arista EOS, its Linux-based network operating system, and CloudVision, a cloud-based platform for network management, automation, monitoring and analytics.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.