Abacus FCF Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• Abacus FCF Advisors initiated a new stake in Arista Networks, purchasing 130,302 shares worth about $17.07 million, which equals 2.2% of its portfolio and makes ANET its 13th-largest holding.
• Institutional buying and strong results — Vanguard, MFS, Arrowstreet and others materially increased positions (institutional ownership 82.47%), and Arista recently beat Q results (EPS $0.82 vs. $0.75, revenue $2.49B) while trading with a ~$222.6B market cap and a consensus "Buy" rating.
• Notable insider selling — CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 428,000 shares (~$75.9M) under a 10b5‑1 plan and insiders have disposed of ~1.5M shares (~$246.4M) over 90 days, which could add short‑term volatility despite being pre‑arranged trades.

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 130,302 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $17,073,000. Arista Networks accounts for 2.2% of Abacus FCF Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 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 purchasing an additional 5,525,828 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 82.5% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,587,115 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,396,939,000 after buying an additional 4,332,659 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 3,182.7% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,012,373 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $525,741,000 after buying an additional 3,890,146 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,189,629 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $13,258,877,000 after buying an additional 1,188,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Arista Networks by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 3,946,087 shares of the technology company's stock worth $574,984,000 after acquiring an additional 878,023 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of Arista Networks stock opened at $176.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $222.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.48. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.01 and a 52-week high of $179.80. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $139.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.26.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.99% and a return on equity of 30.37%. The firm's revenue was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

More Arista Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and media highlight Arista as a direct beneficiary of Google’s new "Virgo" AI datacenter architecture; that narrative helped lift momentum and contributed to new highs. Arista poised to benefit from Google’s Virgo
• Positive Sentiment: Company/analyst commentary says Arista materially raised its AI‑networking market assumptions (effectively expanding the TAM), supporting higher forward multiples and investor willingness to pay a premium for AI exposure. Arista Doubles AI Networking Target
• Positive Sentiment: Street and research notes (Zacks and others) flag ANET as likely to top upcoming quarterly estimates as AI capex, 5G/fiber demand and datacenter upgrades lift networking spend — Q1 (May 5) is a potential catalyst for upgrades. 3 Telecom Stocks Likely to Surpass Q1 Earnings Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional accumulation and multiple analyst upgrades/price‑target increases have driven liquidity and momentum into ANET, reinforcing the current uptrend. MarketBeat Arista coverage and analyst targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Several bullish writeups recap Arista’s market share in high‑performance switching and AI networking; useful context for investors but reflect elevated expectations that increase the bar for surprises. Is Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET) A Good Stock To Buy Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling by CEO Jayshree Ullal (multiple pre‑arranged 10b5‑1 sales totaling tens of millions over recent days) is generating selling pressure and negative headlines despite being scheduled trades. Jayshree Ullal Sells 93,861 Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Additional insider dispositions (EVP and other executives) amplify perception of management profit‑taking and can increase short‑term volatility into the earnings date. Kenneth Duda SEC filing

Insider Activity

In other Arista Networks news, insider Kenneth Duda sold 32,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,848,301.44. This trade represents a 71.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 428,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total value of $75,944,320.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 5,209,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $924,321,690.08. The trade was a 7.59% 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 1,502,729 shares of company stock worth $246,427,959 over the last 90 days. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna raised shares of Arista Networks to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Arista Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Arista Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $165.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Arista Networks in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $177.83.

Arista Networks 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.

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