Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 1,770,427 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its Arista Networks stake by 63.8% in the first quarter, selling 1,770,427 shares and leaving it with 1,003,513 shares valued at about $123.2 million.
• Arista’s business momentum remains strong: the company recently launched new 1.6-terabit networking platforms, and its latest earnings beat expectations with EPS of $0.87 and revenue of $2.71 billion, up 35.1% year over year.
• Wall Street sentiment is still bullish, with several analysts reiterating buy ratings and a consensus target price of $187.63, even as insiders have been selling shares in recent months.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 63.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,003,513 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,770,427 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.08% of Arista Networks worth $123,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ANET. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sankala Group LLC purchased a new stake in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Prosperity Bancshares Inc bought a new position in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Arista Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arista Networks News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Arista unveiled new 1.6-terabit networking platforms as demand for 800-gig deployments continues to build, reinforcing its position in AI and cloud data-center networking. Arista Networks (ANET) Unveils 1.6 Terabit Platforms As 800 Gig Adoption Builds
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary highlighted Arista as a beneficiary of pricing power and AI networking expansion, which supports the bull case for revenue growth. The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Micron, The Coca-Cola, Arista Networks and Where Food Comes From
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street coverage remains broadly favorable, with analysts still viewing ANET as a good investment, though this is more a sentiment check than a new catalyst. Wall Street Analysts Think Arista Networks (ANET) Is a Good Investment: Is It?
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Kenneth Duda sold shares in two reported transactions, including a sizable block sale, which can weigh on sentiment even though both were made under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan. SEC filing for insider sale
• Negative Sentiment: Recent trading showed ANET underperforming peers and falling sharply versus the prior session, signaling near-term momentum weakness. Arista Networks (ANET) Registers a Bigger Fall Than the Market: Important Facts to Note

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 260,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.57, for a total transaction of $43,048,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 182,543,048 shares in the company, valued at $30,223,652,457.36. This represents a 0.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 428,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total value of $75,944,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 5,209,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $924,321,690.08. This represents a 7.59% 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. Insiders have sold 2,647,080 shares of company stock worth $431,329,762 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Trading Down 0.3%

ANET stock opened at $161.69 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $159.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.35. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.50 and a 12-month high of $179.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.37, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.61.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.62 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.32% and a return on equity of 30.10%. Arista Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. Arista Networks has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.880 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $185.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $164.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 15th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price target (up from $170.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $181.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Arista Networks to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $187.63.

Arista Networks Company Profile

Arista Networks, Inc is a technology company that designs and sells cloud networking solutions for large-scale data centers and enterprise environments. The company is best known for its high-performance switching and routing platforms, which are used to build scalable, low-latency networks for cloud service providers, internet companies, financial services, telecommunications, and enterprise IT. Arista's offerings emphasize programmability, automation and telemetry to support modern, software-driven network architectures.

Central to Arista's product portfolio is its Extensible Operating System (EOS), a modular network operating system that provides consistent programmability, stateful control and advanced visibility across the company's hardware platforms.

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