Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Down 1.8% After Insider Selling

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)’s share price dropped 1.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $135.37 and last traded at $136.9730. Approximately 5,251,586 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 8,956,058 shares. The stock had previously closed at $139.54.

Specifically, insider Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $3,701,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 512,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,940,140. This trade represents a 4.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Kenneth Duda sold 32,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.44, for a total value of $4,558,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,848,301.44. This trade represents a 71.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $175.00 price objective (up from $159.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $184.00 target price (up previously from $183.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, February 13th. 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 report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $177.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.44.

Arista Networks News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst write-ups highlight Arista’s software-led differentiation — Zacks notes Arista’s EOS and CloudVision give it an “AI?ready,” automated networking edge for enterprises and hyperscalers, supporting durable revenue and margin expansion. This underpins growth expectations and helps justify a premium multiple. Can Arista’s High-Performance Network Software Fuel Its Future Growth?
• Positive Sentiment: Recent fundamental results remain supportive: Arista’s Feb. 12 quarter beat on EPS and revenue with high margins and ~29% YoY revenue growth, which helps justify analyst upside and a high P/E relative to peers. (Background earnings release)
• Positive Sentiment: Sector-performance pieces show ANET has outperformed many computer & technology peers so far this year, reinforcing momentum and attracting momentum/sector rotation flows. Is Arista Networks (ANET) Stock Outpacing Its Computer and Technology Peers This Year?
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts’ views are mixed — The Globe and Mail roundup notes differing analyst opinions across Arista and other tech names, indicating no clear consensus on near-term upside vs. valuation risk. Mixed analyst commentary can increase intraday volatility but doesn’t decisively move fundamentals. Analysts’ Opinions Are Mixed on These Technology Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparative pieces (e.g., sector/company comparisons) provide context but are unlikely to drive large moves unless they change earning forecasts or market share assumptions. Comparing Consensus Cloud Solutions & Arista Networks
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: SEC filings show Kenneth Duda disclosed sizable sales (reported on Feb. 17), totaling tens of thousands of shares at ~\$142 per share. Large insider disposals can spook investors and add downward pressure even when management says sales are for personal reasons. SEC Form 4 — Insider Sale

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.50. The company has a market cap of $166.76 billion, a PE ratio of 48.09, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.42.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.07. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.99% and a return on equity of 30.37%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Trust Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 33.0% in the third quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 19,273 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,808,000 after buying an additional 4,780 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,263,000. National Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,296,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,993,100 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,127,984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Arista Networks during the second quarter worth $247,451,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Arista Networks

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.