Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET Stock: Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Lowers Holdings

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management cut its Arista Networks stake by 22.1% in the third quarter, selling 806,367 shares and retaining 2.85 million shares worth approximately $580 million.
• Despite Robeco’s reduction, institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of Arista’s stock, with several major investors significantly increasing their positions during the second quarter.
• Arista continues to benefit from strong AI infrastructure demand: its latest quarter exceeded expectations, while analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $233.20, despite TD Cowen lowering its target to $205.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. cut its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 22.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,848,869 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 806,367 shares during the period. Arista Networks comprises approximately 0.7% of Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned approximately 0.23% of Arista Networks worth $580,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. State Street Corp grew its position in Arista Networks by 159.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 121,303,125 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $20,606,975,000 after purchasing an additional 74,541,134 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $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 worth $1,635,978,000 after purchasing an additional 6,409,612 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $537,736,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased 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 worth $1,712,788,000 after purchasing an additional 2,497,275 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Arista Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Arista’s new open Ethernet rack-scale portfolio, including the Etherlink SU-144 architecture, is designed for high-density AI infrastructure with up to 144 accelerators per rack. The offering could help the company capture demand from cloud providers and “neocloud” operators seeking lower-cost, standards-based alternatives to proprietary interconnects. Is Open AI Rack Launch Altering the Investment Case for Arista Networks Stock?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and financial commentators expect another strong quarterly report on November 3. Arista is projected to generate approximately $3.3 billion in third-quarter revenue, representing about 44% year-over-year growth, supported by AI data-center networking demand. Arista Networks Is Heading for a Big Test on Nov. 3
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen maintained a “buy” rating while lowering its price target from $250 to $205. The revised target still implies approximately 12.9% upside from the referenced share price, suggesting the firm views the recent weakness as excessive relative to Arista’s growth outlook.

Arista Networks Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of ANET stock opened at $181.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.60. Arista Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.52 and a twelve month high of $217.41. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $197.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.58.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.080 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, 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 directly owned 181,143,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,826,381,658.40. The trade was a 0.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total value of $154,341,575.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 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 3,584,116 shares of company stock valued at $733,396,013 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on ANET shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Arista Networks from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $255.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $250.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $233.20.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.