Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Falls 1.1% on Insider Selling

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) were down 1.1% on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $201.35 and last traded at $202.5950. 4,533,930 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 8,037,620 shares. The stock had previously closed at $204.92.

Specifically, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 62,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.40, for a total value of $13,238,290.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,876,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,030,991,880.80. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.50, for a total transaction of $5,291,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 442,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,028,400. This trade represents a 5.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 other news, insider Kenneth Duda sold 17,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.50, for a total transaction of $3,527,265.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $2,640,616. The trade was a 57.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ANET. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $289.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-one have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.70.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $192.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $168.53. The company has a market capitalization of $256.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.62.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.13. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.65% and a net margin of 38.37%.The business 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 posted $0.73 earnings per share. 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. As a group, research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.74 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $20,606,975,000 after purchasing an additional 74,541,134 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Arista Networks by 34.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,725,196 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,712,788,000 after buying an additional 2,497,275 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $1,635,978,000 after buying an additional 6,409,612 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,357,496 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,589,651,000 after buying an additional 388,354 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,440,963 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,433,951,000 after buying an additional 470,451 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.