Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET Stock Purchased by Norris Perne & French LLP MI

Key Points

• Norris Perne & French LLP MI nearly doubled its Arista Networks stake in the third quarter, purchasing 20,702 additional shares to own 42,449 shares valued at approximately $8.64 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 82.47% of the company.
• Arista reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.02 versus the $0.89 consensus and revenue of $3.04 billion, up 37.7% year over year. The company also provided Q3 2026 EPS guidance of $1.06–$1.08.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $233.20, but valuation, insider selling and AI-related market volatility remain risks for the stock, which recently traded at $172.34.

Norris Perne & French LLP MI boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 95.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,449 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,702 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI's holdings in Arista Networks were worth $8,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ABS Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC purchased a new stake in Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT raised its stake in Arista Networks by 80.0% during the 3rd quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 180 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 61.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 183 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE ANET opened at $172.34 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $196.27 and a 200 day moving average of $176.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.13. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.37% and a return on equity of 30.65%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. The firm's 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.79 EPS for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting Arista Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Higher earnings outlook: Erste Group Bank raised its fiscal 2027 EPS estimate for Arista Networks to $4.79 from $4.74 and maintained a “Buy” rating. The revision reinforces the view that demand for Arista’s networking products should remain strong as cloud providers expand AI data centers. MarketBeat analyst estimate article
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure remains a key growth theme: Analysts continue to identify Arista as a beneficiary of rising cloud-computing and artificial-intelligence infrastructure spending. The company’s high-speed networking equipment supports major cloud and AI data centers, while recent results showed strong revenue growth and earnings above consensus. Cloud computing stocks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst comparisons remain favorable but not decisive: Recent articles compare Arista with Salesforce, Adobe and CrowdStrike, highlighting Arista’s industry-leading margins and exposure to AI infrastructure. These are opinion-based investment comparisons rather than new company catalysts. Arista versus Salesforce article
• Negative Sentiment: AI-fund concerns are driving volatility: Arista shares have pulled back toward prior support levels amid rumors of another AI-focused fund blowup and broader institutional selling. The speculation has not been confirmed, but it is pressuring high-growth technology stocks and increasing near-term risk. Cloud stock pullback article
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling adds a modest overhang: Director Kenneth Duda sold a combined 43,333 shares worth approximately $7.8 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Such scheduled sales do not necessarily signal deteriorating fundamentals, but they can weigh on sentiment during a pullback. SEC insider trading filing
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and competitive concerns remain: TD Cowen reportedly cut its price target, while a separate bearish analysis questioned Arista’s pricing power and long-term competitive durability. With the stock trading at a premium earnings multiple, investors may be particularly sensitive to any slowdown in AI-related demand. Arista Networks bearish analysis

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $250.00 price target on Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Arista Networks from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Monday, August 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Arista Networks to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $233.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of the business's 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 completion of 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 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 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 of the company's stock, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 3,627,449 shares of company stock worth $741,235,386 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Company 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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