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

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s stock price fell 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. Approximately 4,533,930 shares traded hands 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.40, for a total transaction of $13,238,290.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 4,876,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,030,991,880.80. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.50, for a total value of $5,291,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 442,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,028,400. This 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,640,616. This trade represents a 57.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANET has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $255.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $259.00 target price (up from $187.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-one have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $231.70.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.96, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.62.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.13. The company 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 revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.73 EPS. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.080 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ANET. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 159.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 121,303,125 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,606,975,000 after buying an additional 74,541,134 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 199.0% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,630,196 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,635,978,000 after buying an additional 6,409,612 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Arista Networks by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 9,528,887 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,248,570,000 after acquiring an additional 287,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Arista Networks by 4.3% during the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,357,496 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,589,651,000 after acquiring an additional 388,354 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.