Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Up 2.7% – Here’s Why

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) shares were up 2.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $194.69 and last traded at $192.8240. 4,906,076 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 8,197,946 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANET has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $289.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Arista Networks from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, August 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $220.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.80.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $187.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.65. The stock has a market cap of $249.59 billion, a PE ratio of 62.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.62.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kelly Battles sold 422 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.34, for a total transaction of $79,057.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,909,743.96. This trade represents a 3.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.60, for a total transaction of $60,780,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 180,843,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,638,801,524.80. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,527,694 shares of company stock valued at $684,665,787. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Main Street Group LTD bought a new position in Arista Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Sankala Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. ABS Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC purchased a new stake in Arista Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Arista Networks by 184.9% in the 1st quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 245 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by 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.