Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET Shares Sold by Madison Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Madison Asset Management cut its Arista Networks stake by 73.9% in the second quarter, selling 505,710 shares and retaining 178,606 shares valued at approximately $30.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.47% of ANET.
• Insiders also reported substantial selling: CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares for about $154.3 million, while major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares for roughly $61 million. Insiders sold 4.33 million shares worth approximately $798.4 million over the past quarter.
• Arista continues to show strong operating momentum, with quarterly revenue up 37.7% year over year to $3.04 billion and EPS of $1.02, beating estimates. Analysts remain bullish, with a consensus “Buy” rating and a $226.05 price target, though the stock’s premium valuation remains a key risk.

Madison Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 73.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 178,606 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 505,710 shares during the quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $30,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ANET. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 321.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,806 shares of the technology company's stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 5,955 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Arista Networks by 48.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,723 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 31.3% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 4,193 shares of the technology company's stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total transaction of $154,341,575.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 16,387,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,297,589,536.82. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 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 transaction, the insider owned 181,143,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,826,381,658.40. This trade represents a 0.17% 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 quarter, insiders have sold 4,333,775 shares of company stock valued at $798,438,989. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Arista Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Arista is benefiting from accelerating AI infrastructure spending. Its Etherlink customer base has surpassed 100, while demand from customers using different AI architectures could broaden the company’s addressable market and support continued growth. Arista Benefits From AI Networking Surge: Will Momentum Persist?
• Positive Sentiment: One comparison of Arista with Palantir portrays ANET as the more attractively valued growth company, citing roughly 51 times forward earnings, no debt and net margins near 39%. That framing may support investor interest in Arista relative to other expensive AI-related stocks. Arista Networks vs. Palantir Technologies: Which Technology Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026?
• Positive Sentiment: Additional analysis points to sustained revenue growth, reinforcing the bullish case that cloud, data-center and AI networking demand can continue driving Arista’s results. What’s Fueling Arista Networks Revenue Growth?
• Neutral Sentiment: Arista’s Rosenblatt Technology Summit presentation focused on the company’s role in the AI networking buildout. The transcript may provide further detail on strategy and demand, but it did not introduce a clearly new financial catalyst. Rosenblatt Technology Summit Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: A roundup of institutional-investor positioning reflects greater selectivity toward AI and technology stocks, but does not report a specific change in Arista’s fundamentals or analyst outlook. Bet on Smart Money With These Stocks and ETFs
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation remains a key risk. Arista’s superior operating performance is reflected in its premium multiple, while future profitability depends on which customers generate the volume being secured; a less favorable customer mix could pressure margins. What You Are Really Paying For In Arista Networks Stock

Arista Networks Stock Down 3.5%

Arista Networks stock opened at $186.34 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $176.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.78, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.60. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.52 and a 52-week high of $214.89.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.13. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.37% and a return on equity of 30.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. Arista Networks'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. Research analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ANET. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $255.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Arista Networks from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $164.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $226.05.

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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