13,645 Shares in Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET Purchased by Acropolis Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Acropolis Investment Management purchased 13,645 Arista Networks shares valued at approximately $2.78 million, while institutional investors collectively own 82.47% of the company.
• Arista reported strong results, with quarterly revenue up 37.7% year over year to $3.04 billion and EPS of $1.02 beating estimates. Its new open Ethernet rack-scale portfolio targets growing AI data-center infrastructure demand.
• The stock trades near record highs at a demanding valuation of roughly 66.5 times earnings. Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and $235.45 average price target, though some firms have downgraded the shares and insiders sold substantial stock.

Acropolis Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,645 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,778,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ANET. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sankala Group LLC bought a new position in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. ABS Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks during the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 184.9% in the 1st quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 245 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arista Networks News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Arista launched an open Ethernet rack-scale portfolio designed for high-density AI infrastructure. The solutions support both scale-up and scale-out architectures, liquid-cooled deployments and improved resiliency, potentially expanding Arista’s role in data-center AI networks. The portfolio was developed with partners including AMD, Arm, Broadcom, Meta, Microsoft and Qualcomm. Arista Announces Rack-Scale Architectures for Scale-Up and Scale-Out AI Fabrics
• Positive Sentiment: Investment commentary continues to identify Arista as a potential beneficiary of the AI infrastructure boom. Its Ethernet products may gain market share as hyperscalers seek open, interoperable alternatives to proprietary networking systems and reduce vendor concentration. Arista Networks Could Be a Key Winner From the AI Infrastructure Boom
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s recent operating performance remains strong: quarterly revenue increased 37.7% year over year to approximately $3.04 billion, while earnings exceeded expectations. Management’s outlook calls for roughly $1.06 to $1.08 in upcoming quarterly EPS, supporting the longer-term growth narrative.
• Negative Sentiment: After rising roughly 60% or more year to date and reaching a record near $217, Arista’s valuation is demanding, with a trailing P/E near 67. Analysts and investors are questioning whether continued AI growth can justify the premium, particularly amid customer concentration and potential margin pressure. Arista Stock Rises 64.7% YTD: Is There More Upside Ahead?
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Arista from “strong buy” to “hold,” adding near-term pressure as the stock consolidates following its sharp advance. Arista Networks Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, August 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen lifted 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. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $289.00 price objective (up from $195.00) 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 given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.45.

Arista Networks Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of Arista Networks stock opened at $210.88 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $265.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.60. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.52 and a twelve month high of $217.32. The company's fifty day moving average is $197.40 and its 200 day moving average is $171.74.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.13. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.65% and a net margin of 38.37%.The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. The business's quarterly 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total value of $154,341,575.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 16,387,981 shares in the company, valued at $3,297,589,536.82. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.51, for a total value of $4,433,260.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 462,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $78,843,824. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 3,371,914 shares of company stock valued at $685,305,594 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

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.

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