AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. Takes Position in Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. opened a new position in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter, buying 13,361 shares worth about $1.75 million. The stake represents roughly 0.8% of the fund’s portfolio.
• Arista Networks reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.87 versus the $0.81 estimate and revenue of $2.71 billion, up 35.1% year over year. The company also guided Q2 2026 EPS at 0.880.
• Analyst sentiment remains largely constructive, with the stock carrying a “Buy” consensus and an average price target of $186.47, even as a few firms adjusted ratings and targets. The article also notes significant insider selling, including a large June sale by co-founder Andreas Bechtolsheim.

AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. acquired a new position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 13,361 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,751,000. Arista Networks makes up about 0.8% of AFT Forsyth & Company Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ANET. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the third quarter worth $29,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ANET shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $176.00 to $173.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $185.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $186.47.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

ANET stock opened at $163.38 on Friday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $154.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.99. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $85.58 and a 52 week high of $179.80. The company has a market capitalization of $205.73 billion, a PE ratio of 55.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.61.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.32% and a return on equity of 30.10%. The business had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. Arista Networks's revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Arista Networks has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.880 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, insider Kenneth Duda sold 32,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.14, for a total transaction of $4,292,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,740,600.64. This represents a 71.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 240,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.06, for a total transaction of $39,134,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 331,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,111,134.88. This represents a 41.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,403,142 shares of company stock worth $388,820,943. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Key Arista Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: An analyst raised Arista Networks’ price target, helping fuel the stock’s recent climb and reinforcing optimism around the company’s outlook. Why Arista Networks Stock Flew More Than 4% Higher on Friday
• Positive Sentiment: Arista rolled out its 7060XE7 Series Ethernet platforms, with faster speeds and up to 100 Tbps switching capacity, which could support rising AI infrastructure spending and strengthen future demand. Can Arista's Advanced Networking Platform Meet the Growing AI Demand?
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank boosted its FY2027 EPS estimate for Arista to $4.00 from $3.95, signaling improved long-term earnings expectations. MarketBeat Arista Networks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market volatility tied to AI spending concerns, interest rates, and economic growth may be influencing trading across tech stocks, including Arista. The Stock Market Is Getting Volatile—Finally. What to Put on Your Buy List.
• Neutral Sentiment: A report noted that Arista co-founder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 220,000 shares, which can draw attention but does not by itself confirm a change in the business outlook. Andreas Bechtolsheim Sells 220,000 Shares of Arista Networks NYSE: ANET 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.

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