Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Shares Down 2.8% on Insider Selling

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) shares fell 2.8% during trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $210.18 and last traded at $210.7170. Approximately 3,266,631 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 7,877,805 shares. The stock had previously closed at $216.74.

Specifically, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 96,992 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.14, for a total transaction of $21,060,842.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,797,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,695,927.58. The trade was a 1.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chantelle Breithaupt sold 1,224 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.00, for a total transaction of $263,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 68,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,769,855. The trade was a 1.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 460,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.09, for a total value of $97,640,721.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 4,811,207 shares in the company, valued at $1,020,408,892.63. This represents a 8.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on ANET. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $255.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $181.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.45.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $198.12 and a 200 day moving average of $172.31. The firm has a market cap of $265.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.47, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.60.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.37% and a return on equity of 30.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.080 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in Arista Networks by 159.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 121,303,125 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,606,975,000 after buying an additional 74,541,134 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 34.6% in 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. lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 199.0% in 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. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 4.3% in the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,357,496 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,589,651,000 after buying an additional 388,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,440,963 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,433,951,000 after acquiring an additional 470,451 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arista Networks Company Profile

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.