Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors purchased 13,710 Arista Networks shares worth approximately $2.8 million in the third quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 82.47% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $235.45, although one firm downgraded the stock to “Hold.”
• Arista reported strong quarterly results, with revenue rising 37.7% year over year to $3.04 billion and EPS of $1.02 versus the $0.89 consensus estimate; however, the stock’s elevated valuation and recent insider selling remain potential concerns.

Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 13,710 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,791,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 159.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 121,303,125 shares of the technology company's stock worth $20,606,975,000 after acquiring an additional 74,541,134 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,101,860,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 199.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,630,196 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,635,978,000 after buying an additional 6,409,612 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $537,736,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,725,196 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,712,788,000 after buying an additional 2,497,275 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total transaction of $154,341,575.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 16,387,981 shares in the company, valued at $3,297,589,536.82. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $36,826,381,658.40. This represents a 0.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,627,449 shares of company stock valued at $740,784,723. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ANET has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $259.00 target price (up from $187.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.45.

Key Stories Impacting Arista Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Arista introduced an open Ethernet rack-scale portfolio designed to connect accelerators across liquid-cooled racks for large AI workloads. The launch reinforces the company’s position in AI networking and could expand its addressable market. Arista Networks Stock Dropped, What Is Behind the Fresh Attention?
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank modestly raised its FY2026 EPS estimate to $3.79 from $3.78 and its FY2027 forecast to $4.74 from $4.73, while maintaining a Buy rating. The revisions suggest continued confidence in Arista’s earnings growth.
• Positive Sentiment: A separate report said Arista’s revenue outlook was raised for the third time this year and non-cancellable purchase commitments climbed 2.7 times to $9.7 billion. If accurate, the commitments provide stronger visibility into future demand. Arista Networks Prospects and Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Arista’s previous quarterly results exceeded expectations, with revenue up 37.7% year over year and EPS of $1.02 versus the $0.89 consensus. However, the stock trades at a high earnings multiple, leaving less room for disappointment.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 130,553 shares for approximately $28.3 million and another 27,990 shares for about $6.1 million. Both transactions were executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, and Ullal still owns roughly 4.8 million shares, which reduces—but does not eliminate—the negative signal from the sales.
• Negative Sentiment: The stock recently declined more than the broader market after gaining about 58% year to date and reaching near its 52-week high. The move appears consistent with profit-taking and valuation concerns rather than a reported deterioration in Arista’s business outlook. Arista Networks Registers a Bigger Fall Than the Market

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of ANET opened at $195.11 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $246.07 billion, a PE ratio of 61.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.60. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $114.52 and a one year high of $217.41. The company's fifty day moving average price is $198.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.87.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. The business'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. Analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

About Arista Networks

Arista Networks, Inc develops and sells cloud networking solutions for data centers, campus environments and high-performance computing applications. Its products include Ethernet switches, routers, wireless access points and related networking equipment designed to support cloud computing, artificial intelligence, enterprise and service-provider networks.

The company's software portfolio includes Arista EOS, its network operating system, and CloudVision, a platform that helps customers manage, automate and monitor network infrastructure.

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