Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET Stake Trimmed by Bright Rock Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Bright Rock Capital Management cut its Arista Networks stake by 44.4% in the third quarter, selling 20,000 shares and retaining 25,000 shares valued at approximately $5.09 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 82.47%, with State Street, Massachusetts Financial Services, Envestnet, Deutsche Bank and Wellington Management among the major holders that increased their positions.
• Analysts maintain a bullish outlook, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $231.70. Arista also exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, though insiders sold $675.9 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Bright Rock Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 44.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,000 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 20,000 shares during the quarter. Bright Rock Capital Management LLC's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $5,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ANET. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 159.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 121,303,125 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $20,606,975,000 after buying an additional 74,541,134 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 34.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,725,196 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,712,788,000 after acquiring an additional 2,497,275 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 199.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,630,196 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,635,978,000 after purchasing an additional 6,409,612 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Arista Networks by 4.3% in the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,357,496 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,589,651,000 after purchasing an additional 388,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,440,963 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,433,951,000 after purchasing an additional 470,451 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $181.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-one have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $231.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 16,387,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,297,589,536.82. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.30, for a total transaction of $60,990,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 181,143,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders have sold 3,382,316 shares of company stock worth $675,904,720. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arista Networks Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE ANET traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $207.12. 1,472,594 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,944,930. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.52 and a 12 month high of $214.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $193.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.54. The company has a market cap of $261.22 billion, a PE ratio of 65.38, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.60.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.37% and a return on equity of 30.65%. Arista Networks's revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.080 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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