Applied Capital LLC FL Purchases New Stake in Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• Applied Capital LLC FL purchased 29,496 Arista Networks shares worth approximately $6.0 million, making ANET its fifth-largest holding and about 2.3% of its portfolio.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of Arista, while insiders sold more than 3.1 million shares worth approximately $631.3 million over the past 90 days.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $231.70 price target. Arista recently exceeded earnings and revenue expectations, with quarterly revenue rising 37.7% year over year, although the stock’s elevated valuation and recent downgrades present risks.

Applied Capital LLC FL bought 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 Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 29,496 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $6,005,000. Arista Networks accounts for approximately 2.3% of Applied Capital LLC FL's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,357,496 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,589,651,000 after purchasing an additional 388,354 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 2,827.9% in the third quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 52,381 shares of the technology company's stock worth $10,664,000 after purchasing an additional 50,592 shares during the period. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,279,000. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. grew its position in Arista Networks by 564.1% in the 2nd quarter. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. now owns 16,847 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,862,000 after purchasing an additional 14,310 shares during the period. Finally, Nilsine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 521.6% during the second quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 32,657 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,548,000 after buying an additional 27,403 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arista Networks news, Director Mark Templeton sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.37, for a total value of $1,021,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 48,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,893,551.70. This trade represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total transaction of $59,685,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 180,543,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,919,039,399.60. This trade represents a 0.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,144,894 shares of company stock worth $631,310,023. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ANET shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $250.00 price objective on Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $255.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Arista Networks from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $231.70.

Arista Networks Trading Up 0.2%

Arista Networks stock opened at $215.71 on Thursday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.52 and a 1-year high of $217.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $272.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.18.

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

Trending Headlines about Arista Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Arista announced an open Ethernet rack-scale portfolio designed for high-density, scale-up and scale-out AI infrastructure. The liquid-cooled solutions use open standards and were developed with partners including AMD, Arm, Broadcom, Meta, Microsoft and Qualcomm, strengthening Arista’s positioning in the fast-growing AI data-center networking market. Arista Announces Rack-Scale Architectures for Scale-Up and Scale-Out AI Fabrics
• Positive Sentiment: ClearBridge Investments highlighted Arista as an AI infrastructure company with solid execution, a clearer path to AI monetization and raised guidance. The commentary suggests investors are favoring Arista over some higher-momentum semiconductor names. Arista Networks Outperforms AI Infrastructure Peers
• Positive Sentiment: Earlier analyst actions remain supportive: Bernstein initiated coverage at Outperform, while the broader analyst consensus is Buy with a $231.70 target. Arista’s latest reported quarter also showed strong momentum, including 37.7% year-over-year revenue growth and earnings above expectations.
• Neutral Sentiment: Arista will report third-quarter 2026 results after the market close on November 3. Investors may be positioning ahead of the release, with attention focused on whether AI-related demand supports the company’s guidance of $1.06-$1.08 in quarterly EPS. Arista Networks Q3 2026 Earnings Date
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Arista from Strong Buy to Hold, which may have contributed to profit-taking after the stock’s sharp rally and elevated valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: A director sold 5,000 shares through a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Although the transaction was scheduled in advance, it adds a modest negative signal for sentiment.

About Arista Networks

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.