Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading 3.2% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) were up 3.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $133.78 and last traded at $132.9030. Approximately 7,171,352 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the average daily volume of 8,862,741 shares. The stock had previously closed at $128.77.

Key Headlines Impacting Arista Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains broadly bullish as Arista has meaningfully outperformed the S&P 500 over the past year, supporting buy-side conviction in its multi‑year growth runway. Is Arista Networks’ Stock Outperforming the S&P 500?
• Positive Sentiment: One analyst sees >50% upside as accelerating AI data‑center demand and Arista’s execution (switching, Ethernet for AI fabrics) could drive another leg of growth. This bullish note can attract momentum buyers. Why 1 Analyst Thinks Arista Networks Stock Can Still Gain Over 50% This Year
• Positive Sentiment: Arista 2.0 strategy (AI focus, SaaS offers and a 150M port deployment milestone) is gaining traction — supports upside potential from higher‑margin software and recurring‑revenue mix improvements. Arista 2.0 Strategy Picks Up Steam: Can ANET Ride This Wave?
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly results beat expectations and management raised AI revenue guidance for FY‑2026, reinforcing Arista’s role in next‑gen cloud and AI infrastructure — a core fundamental support for the rally. Arista Networks (ANET) Is Down 5.1% After Raising 2026 AI Revenue Outlook And Beating Q4 Estimates – Has The Bull Case Changed?
• Neutral Sentiment: Company presentation at Bernstein Insights provides incremental color on strategy and roadmap (helpful for investors, but not an immediate catalyst). Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET) Presents at Bernstein Insights
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat and guidance lift, the stock previously pulled back (~5%) as some investors rotated out on valuation concerns and to lock gains — this dynamic can cause volatility even with positive fundamentals. Arista Networks (ANET) Is Down 5.1% After Raising 2026 AI Revenue Outlook And Beating Q4 Estimates – Has The Bull Case Changed?
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: a director sold 422 shares (~$54k) last week — a small position change but sometimes cited by traders as a near‑term weak signal. Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Director Kelly Bodnar Battles Sells 422 Shares

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on ANET shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Arista Networks from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note 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. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.88.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $167.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.30, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $134.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.36.

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

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Yvonne Wassenaar sold 1,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.44, for a total transaction of $240,378.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,574 shares in the company, valued at $1,665,300.56. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.43, for a total transaction of $1,123,440.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,373,967.12. This represents a 44.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 196,237 shares of company stock valued at $25,861,120 over the last ninety days. 3.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,228,177,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 2,829.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,721,156 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $833,630,000 after acquiring an additional 5,525,828 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Arista Networks by 82.5% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,587,115 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,396,939,000 after purchasing an additional 4,332,659 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Arista Networks by 3,182.7% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,012,373 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $525,741,000 after purchasing an additional 3,890,146 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,878,360 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,032,302,000 after purchasing an additional 2,934,098 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

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.