Carter Financial Group INC. Buys Shares of 8,081 Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• Carter Financial Group bought a new position of 8,081 shares (~$1.18M) in Arista Networks, and institutional investors now own about 82.47% of the stock.
• Analysts and management are broadly bullish — the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $176.47, and management is guiding to roughly $11B revenue in 2026 (vs ~ $9B in 2025) driven by AI demand and new high‑density XPO optics.
• Arista recently beat quarterly expectations (EPS $0.82 vs. $0.75; revenue $2.49B, +28.9% YoY), but insider selling (~196,237 shares last quarter), reported supply constraints, margin pressure and short‑term volatility remain risks.

Carter Financial Group INC. bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,081 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,177,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ANET. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 321.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,806 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 5,955 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. Bison Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $251,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,723 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 4.3% in the second quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 2,561 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $184.00 target price (up from $183.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Arista Networks in a report on Thursday. They set a "buy" rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, December 29th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $176.47.

Key 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)

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of Arista Networks stock opened at $133.67 on Friday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $59.43 and a one year high of $164.94. The stock's 50-day moving average is $134.86 and its 200 day moving average is $137.32. The firm has a market cap of $167.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.43, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.46.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.07. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.37% and a net margin of 38.99%.The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other news, insider Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value 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. The trade was a 4.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.67, for a total transaction of $1,029,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $229,547.28. This represents a 81.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 196,237 shares of company stock worth $25,865,760. Corporate insiders own 3.39% of the company's stock.

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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