86,723 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET Purchased by Hengehold Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Hengehold Capital Management acquired 86,723 Arista Networks shares worth approximately $17.7 million, while institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 82.47% of the company.
• Arista insiders sold about 3.63 million shares worth $740.8 million over the past three months, including substantial sales by CEO Jayshree Ullal and major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Buy” rating and a $235.45 price target; the company also reported revenue growth of 37.7% year over year and earnings above expectations in its latest quarter.

Hengehold Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 86,723 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $17,656,000. Arista Networks makes up 1.4% of Hengehold Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sankala Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. ABS Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arista Networks news, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.30, for a total value of $60,990,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 181,143,048 shares in the company, valued at $36,826,381,658.40. This represents a 0.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total value of $154,341,575.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 16,387,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,297,589,536.82. This trade represents a 4.47% 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 have sold 3,627,449 shares of company stock worth $740,784,723 in the last three months. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ANET has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $289.00 price objective (up from $195.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. 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 report on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Arista Networks from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $248.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.45.

Key Arista Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Arista Networks to “strong buy,” providing a favorable analyst signal for the stock. Ticker Report article
• Positive Sentiment: A hammer chart pattern suggests ANET may have found technical support after its recent pullback. The article also cites broad upward revisions to Wall Street earnings estimates, which could support a near-term rebound. Zacks bottom-fisher article
• Positive Sentiment: Arista remains exposed to the expanding AI-infrastructure market. Comparisons with Akamai focus on Arista’s stronger growth prospects and profitability, factors that could help justify a premium valuation if AI-related demand remains strong. AKAM versus ANET article
• Neutral Sentiment: After roughly a sevenfold five-year rally, investors are reassessing whether Arista’s cash generation can support its current valuation. The debate reflects elevated expectations rather than a reported deterioration in operations. Yahoo Finance valuation article
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Arista shares fell following insider selling are weighing on sentiment, as investors may interpret sales as a cautionary signal even though insider transactions do not necessarily indicate weaker fundamentals. American Banking News insider-selling article

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of ANET stock traded down $8.74 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $176.84. The company had a trading volume of 6,842,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,292,150. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $198.46 and a 200-day moving average of $174.34. The company has a market capitalization of $223.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.78, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.60. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.52 and a 12-month high of $217.41.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.080 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks 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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