Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading 3% Higher - Here's Why

Key Points

• Arista Networks shares rose 3% to about $205.37, despite trading volume running 40% below its average.
• Wall Street remains bullish: the stock has a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $227.80, with several firms recently raising their targets.
• The company reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, including $1.02 EPS and $3.04 billion in revenue, up 37.7% year over year; however, insiders sold approximately $677.2 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $205.95 and last traded at $205.37. Approximately 4,913,078 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 8,162,768 shares. The stock had previously closed at $199.39.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ANET. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $210.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $259.00 price objective (up from $187.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-one have given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.80.

Arista Networks Stock Up 3.0%

The firm has a market cap of $259.02 billion, a PE ratio of 64.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.62. The company's 50 day moving average price is $187.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $164.61.

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

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.60, for a total value of $60,780,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 180,843,048 shares in the company, valued at $36,638,801,524.80. This trade represents a 0.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chantelle Breithaupt sold 612 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.77, for a total value of $119,811.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 69,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,688,434.17. This trade represents a 0.87% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,484,361 shares of company stock valued at $677,237,644. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cura Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 3.1% during the second quarter. Cura Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,748 shares of the technology company's stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc boosted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 2.8% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Intrua Financial LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 2,307 shares of the technology company's stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Arista Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 5,403 shares of the technology company's stock worth $918,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY increased its position in Arista Networks by 37.2% during 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 in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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