Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET Stock Holdings Lifted by Absolute Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Absolute Capital Management nearly doubled its Arista Networks stake in the third quarter, raising holdings by 98.2% to 12,281 shares worth approximately $2.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.47% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $235.45. Several firms recently raised their targets to between $225 and $280.
• Arista exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.02 in EPS and $3.04 billion in revenue, while revenue increased 37.7% year over year. However, insider selling—including CEO Jayshree Ullal’s $154.3 million sale—has weighed on sentiment.

Absolute Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 98.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,281 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,084 shares during the period. Absolute Capital Management LLC's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $2,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 159.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 121,303,125 shares of the technology company's stock worth $20,606,975,000 after acquiring an additional 74,541,134 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Arista Networks during the second quarter valued at about $1,101,860,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Arista Networks by 199.0% during 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 buying an additional 6,409,612 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Arista Networks during the second quarter valued at about $537,736,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew 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 buying an additional 2,497,275 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Arista Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Arista Networks to “strong buy,” providing a favorable analyst signal for the stock. Ticker Report article
• Positive Sentiment: A hammer chart pattern suggests ANET may have found technical support after its recent pullback. The article also cites broad upward revisions to Wall Street earnings estimates, which could support a near-term rebound. Zacks bottom-fisher article
• Positive Sentiment: Arista remains exposed to the expanding AI-infrastructure market. Comparisons with Akamai focus on Arista’s stronger growth prospects and profitability, factors that could help justify a premium valuation if AI-related demand remains strong. AKAM versus ANET article
• Neutral Sentiment: After roughly a sevenfold five-year rally, investors are reassessing whether Arista’s cash generation can support its current valuation. The debate reflects elevated expectations rather than a reported deterioration in operations. Yahoo Finance valuation article
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Arista shares fell following insider selling are weighing on sentiment, as investors may interpret sales as a cautionary signal even though insider transactions do not necessarily indicate weaker fundamentals. American Banking News insider-selling article

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total value of $154,341,575.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 16,387,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,297,589,536.82. This trade represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 181,143,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,826,381,658.40. This represents a 0.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 3,627,449 shares of company stock valued at $740,784,723 in the last ninety days. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Arista Networks from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and set a $250.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Arista Networks from $210.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.45.

Arista Networks Trading Down 4.7%

Shares of NYSE:ANET opened at $176.84 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $198.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.34. The company has a market cap of $223.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.60. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.52 and a 12 month high of $217.41.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.65% and a net margin of 38.37%. Arista Networks's quarterly revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. 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, research analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks Profile

Arista Networks, Inc develops and sells cloud networking solutions for data centers, cloud service providers, enterprises and specialized computing environments. The company's products are designed to support high-performance, scalable and automated networks used for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data analytics and other demanding applications.

Arista's portfolio includes data center and campus switches, routing platforms, wireless networking products, network operating software and network management tools.

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