Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET Shares Sold by DSM Capital Partners LLC

Key Points

• DSM Capital Partners reduced its Arista Networks stake by 3.5% in the first quarter, selling 96,324 shares and leaving it with 2.69 million shares worth about $329.9 million.
• Arista reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.87 beating estimates and revenue of $2.71 billion topping forecasts, while revenue rose 35.1% year over year.
• Wall Street remains bullish on ANET, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $187.63, even as recent insider sales and some profit-taking have added mixed sentiment.

DSM Capital Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,686,694 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 96,324 shares during the period. Arista Networks accounts for 5.8% of DSM Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. DSM Capital Partners LLC owned 0.21% of Arista Networks worth $329,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the third quarter worth $29,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Sankala Group LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Prosperity Bancshares Inc purchased a new stake in Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Arista Networks in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

NYSE:ANET opened at $180.93 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $159.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $145.07. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.68 and a 52 week high of $181.27. The company has a market capitalization of $227.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.60.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.62 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.32% and a return on equity of 30.10%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Arista Networks has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.880 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Arista Networks to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $176.00 to $173.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $187.63.

Key Stories Impacting Arista Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary says Arista is benefiting from the AI network buildout, with strong demand for its high-speed switching and routing products as cloud and data center operators expand AI capacity. Arista Networks NYSE: ANET AI Momentum Boosts Market Focus
• Positive Sentiment: ANET was also described as reaching a new high amid AI momentum, reinforcing the idea that investors are rotating into AI infrastructure winners. Arista Networks NYSE: ANET Reaches New High Amid AI Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually heavy call-option buying suggests traders are positioning for more upside, which can add momentum to the stock.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive, with a recent bullish note calling Arista expensive but still worth it and highlighting AI fabrics, 800G switching, campus expansion, and software/services as growth drivers. Arista Networks Is Expensive, But Still Worth It
• Neutral Sentiment: The company confirmed it will report second-quarter 2026 results on August 4, keeping investors focused on the next earnings catalyst. Arista Networks to Announce Q2 2026 Financial Results on Tuesday, August 4, 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive overall, with a consensus Buy rating and price targets still above recent trading levels.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider sales by major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim and Director Charles Giancarlo may slightly pressure sentiment, even though the trades were filed as part of pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans. Arista Networks NYSE: ANET Major Shareholder Sells 240,000 Shares
• Negative Sentiment: One market note also said ANET dipped more than the broader market in the latest session, suggesting some profit-taking after a strong run. Why Arista Networks (ANET) Dipped More Than Broader Market Today

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 428,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total value of $75,944,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,209,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $924,321,690.08. This represents a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 260,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.57, for a total transaction of $43,048,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 182,543,048 shares in the company, valued at $30,223,652,457.36. The trade was a 0.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 3,147,080 shares of company stock worth $513,396,642 in the last 90 days. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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