Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET Stock Holdings Raised by Forbes J M & Co. LLP

Key Points

• Forbes J M & Co. LLP increased its Arista Networks stake by 12.9% in the third quarter to 105,114 shares valued at approximately $19.7 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. Recent quarterly results also exceeded expectations, with $1.02 in EPS and $3.04 billion in revenue, up 37.7% year over year.
• Sentiment is tempered by valuation and insider selling: shares traded down 4.7% to $176.84, while insiders sold more than 3.6 million shares worth about $740.8 million over the past 90 days.

Forbes J M & Co. LLP raised its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,114 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,027 shares during the period. Arista Networks comprises 1.4% of Forbes J M & Co. LLP's holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Forbes J M & Co. LLP's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $19,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Arista Networks by 159.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 74,541,134 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,101,860,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $1,635,978,000 after purchasing an additional 6,409,612 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Arista Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $537,736,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 34.6% during the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 2,497,275 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks News Roundup

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 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 shares were 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 in the company, valued at $3,297,589,536.82. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 Arista Networks 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 sale, 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 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 3,627,449 shares of company stock valued at $740,784,723. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $210.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Arista Networks from $175.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $248.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. 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 research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.45.

Arista Networks Trading Down 4.7%

NYSE:ANET opened at $176.84 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.03 billion, a PE ratio of 55.78, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.60. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.52 and a 1 year high of $217.41. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $198.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.34.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.65% and a net margin of 38.37%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.080 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate 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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