Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold”

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on ANET. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Susquehanna raised Arista Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Citigroup dropped their price target on Arista Networks from $176.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $181.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $178.00 price target (up from $170.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.84.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Arista Networks stock opened at $141.98 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $144.57 and its 200 day moving average is $137.64. The firm has a market cap of $178.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.67. Arista Networks has a one year low of $83.86 and a one year high of $179.80.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.10% and a net margin of 38.32%.The company had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. Arista Networks has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.880 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Arista Networks will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 428,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total transaction of $75,944,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,209,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $924,321,690.08. This represents a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Kenneth Duda sold 32,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.14, for a total value of $4,292,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,740,600.64. The trade was a 71.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 1,502,729 shares of company stock worth $246,707,719 over the last ninety days. 3.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sankala Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Prosperity Bancshares Inc acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Main Street Group LTD acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Arista Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reuters-based 13-F filings show institutional investors added to or started positions in major AI infrastructure names, including Arista Networks, signaling continued professional buying interest in the company’s long-term AI networking story. Institutional investors boosted holdings of AI infrastructure plays during first quarter
• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded Arista to Outperform, citing share gains in AI-backend and campus networking, plus demand from major customers such as Meta Platforms and Microsoft. Arista upgraded to outperform as it gains share in AI-backend and campus: Raymond James
• Positive Sentiment: Truist said Arista’s post-earnings pullback may be an attractive buying opportunity, keeping the name on bullish watch lists as investors weigh strong underlying demand against near-term volatility. Truist Views Arista Networks (ANET)’s Post-Q1 Sell-Off As An Attractive Buying Opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent articles compare Arista with other AI-related stocks and question whether the rally has already priced in much of the upside, which may be adding to investor caution after a strong multi-year run. Is It Too Late To Consider Arista Networks (ANET) After Strong Multi Year Share Gains?
• Neutral Sentiment: Other coverage notes Arista’s AI demand remains strong, but supply-chain constraints and margin pressure could limit near-term upside even as revenue guidance stays solid. AI-Fueled Demand Amid Supply Strains Might Change The Case For Investing In Arista Networks (ANET)
• Negative Sentiment: One analyst-style comparison argued Jabil looks stronger than Arista on valuation and AI data-center exposure, reflecting some relative-value skepticism toward ANET. Arista vs. Jabil: Which AI-Driven Tech Stock Looks Stronger Now?

Arista Networks Company Profile

Arista Networks, Inc is a technology company that designs and sells cloud networking solutions for large-scale data centers and enterprise environments. The company is best known for its high-performance switching and routing platforms, which are used to build scalable, low-latency networks for cloud service providers, internet companies, financial services, telecommunications, and enterprise IT. Arista’s offerings emphasize programmability, automation and telemetry to support modern, software-driven network architectures.

Central to Arista’s product portfolio is its Extensible Operating System (EOS), a modular network operating system that provides consistent programmability, stateful control and advanced visibility across the company’s hardware platforms.