California Public Employees Retirement System Raises Stake in Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• CalPERS raised its Arista stake 1.0% in Q3 to 2,165,504 shares (about 0.17% of the company) valued at $315.54 million.
• Heavy institutional buying continued — MFS grew its position 2,829% to 5.72M shares while Norges Bank, Arrowstreet and others added large stakes, leaving 82.47% institutional ownership.
• Arista’s AI-driven outlook is bullish: it launched high-density liquid‑cooled optics for hyperscale AI, beat Q results with revenue up 28.9%, and management targets roughly $11B revenue in 2026, backed by multiple buy ratings and an average price target of about $176.47.

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,165,504 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,855 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.17% of Arista Networks worth $315,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,228,177,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 2,829.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,721,156 shares of the technology company's stock worth $833,630,000 after buying an additional 5,525,828 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Arista Networks by 82.5% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,587,115 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,396,939,000 after buying an additional 4,332,659 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $247,451,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in Arista Networks by 14.8% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 10,494,124 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,073,654,000 after buying an additional 1,350,593 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

More Arista Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Arista launched the XPO multi-source agreement and a 12.8 Tbps liquid‑cooled pluggable optics module that boosts rack density ~4x — this product is explicitly targeted at hyperscale AI data centers and could expand Arista’s addressable market and hardware ASPs. Arista Announces XPO High Density Liquid Cooled Pluggable Optics
• Positive Sentiment: CEO guidance and management commentary point to faster top‑line growth — management expects ~ $11B revenue in 2026 (vs ~$9B in 2025), reinforcing the AI-driven demand narrative. Arista (ANET) to Hit $11B in 2026 Revenues, $2B More Than 2025, Says CEO
• Positive Sentiment: Broker activity has turned constructive — TD Cowen initiated coverage with a Buy and $170 PT, and some outlets upgraded the stock citing accelerating AI networking demand and durable hyperscaler commitments. Those actions support upside vs. current levels. TD Cowen initiates Arista, Coherent and Ciena at buy
• Positive Sentiment: Independent upgrades highlight the stock’s breakout potential as valuation has contracted and FY2026 revenue is guided above ~25%, reinforcing the bullish case for longer-term multiple expansion if execution continues. Arista Networks: All Ready To Storm To New Highs (Upgrade)
• Neutral Sentiment: Technically, ANET is trading near its 50‑day moving average inside a base and is listed as an IBD Sector Leader — constructive technicals but not yet a confirmed breakout. Arista Holds Near Key Level As Outlook Brightens
• Negative Sentiment: Shares have pulled back and shown intraday weakness in recent sessions — short‑term volatility and profit‑taking are pressuring the stock despite positive headlines. Arista Networks (ANET) Declines More Than Market: Some Information for Investors
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts note supply constraints and some gross‑margin pressure that could limit near‑term revenue upside despite strong bookings — a risk to quarterly cadence even as the multi‑year AI opportunity remains intact. Arista Networks: Why A Breakout Seems Likely (Rating Upgrade)

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $184.00 target price (up from $183.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Thursday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $175.00 price target (up from $159.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $188.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $176.47.

Arista Networks Price Performance

ANET stock opened at $133.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.46. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $59.43 and a 1-year high of $164.94. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $134.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.32.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.07. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.37% and a net margin of 38.99%.The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Arista Networks's revenue was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Kelly Bodnar Battles sold 422 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.06, for a total transaction of $54,041.32. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,529 shares in the company, valued at $1,220,283.74. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $3,701,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 512,400 shares in the company, valued at $72,940,140. This represents a 4.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 196,237 shares of company stock worth $25,865,760. 3.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Arista Networks

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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