Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Major Shareholder Sells $21,558,702.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 111,848 Arista Networks shares for approximately $21.6 million at an average price of $192.75, reducing his direct holdings by 50.45% to 109,833 shares. The transaction was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
• Arista reported a strong quarter, with earnings of $1.02 per share and revenue of $3.04 billion, exceeding analyst expectations and representing 37.7% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: the stock carries a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $226.05, while several firms recently raised their targets to between $240 and $260.

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 111,848 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.75, for a total transaction of $21,558,702.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 109,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,170,310.75. This represents a 50.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company's shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Andreas Bechtolsheim also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, August 5th, Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of Arista Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.30, for a total transaction of $60,990,000.00.
• On Thursday, July 2nd, Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 240,000 shares of Arista Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.67, for a total value of $39,040,800.00.
• On Wednesday, July 1st, Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 260,000 shares of Arista Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.22, for a total value of $42,697,200.00.
• On Monday, June 15th, Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 260,000 shares of Arista Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.57, for a total value of $43,048,200.00.
• On Friday, June 5th, Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 220,000 shares of Arista Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.93, for a total value of $34,744,600.00.
• On Thursday, June 4th, Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 240,000 shares of Arista Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.06, for a total value of $39,134,400.00.
• On Tuesday, May 26th, Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 220,000 shares of Arista Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.86, for a total value of $34,509,200.00.
• On Friday, May 22nd, Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 205,000 shares of Arista Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.74, for a total value of $31,106,700.00.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of Arista Networks stock traded up $2.42 on Monday, reaching $191.09. 5,430,330 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,661,585. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $170.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.48. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.52 and a 1-year high of $214.89. The company has a market cap of $241.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.60.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.37% and a return on equity of 30.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.080 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ANET. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Sankala Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Prosperity Bancshares Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Arista Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ANET. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Arista Networks to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $226.05.

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.

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