Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Stock Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Arista Networks by 29% in the first quarter, buying 245,458 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1,092,729 shares worth about $134.2 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to their positions, and hedge funds and other institutions now own 82.47% of Arista’s stock, underscoring broad professional interest in the company.
• Wall Street remains bullish on ANET: analysts have issued multiple upgrades and price-target increases, with MarketBeat showing a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $187.63.

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 29.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,092,729 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 245,458 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp owned 0.09% of Arista Networks worth $134,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ANET. Intrua Financial LLC grew its position in Arista Networks by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 2,307 shares of the technology company's stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY lifted its position in Arista Networks by 37.2% in the first quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 247 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 4.1% during the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 16,085 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,133,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, United Asset Strategies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 6,311 shares of the technology company's stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $181.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Arista Networks to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Arista Networks to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $190.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, June 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $187.63.

Trending Headlines about Arista Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: ANET was highlighted as a stock drawing increased investor attention, suggesting strong market interest and momentum around the name. Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports tied Arista to the AI networking theme, which has been a key driver behind buying in networking and infrastructure stocks. Arista Networks NYSE: ANET AI Momentum Boosts Market Focus
• Positive Sentiment: Arista reached or traded near new highs as investors rotated into technology shares and continued rewarding AI beneficiaries. Why Did PENG, ANET, BCRX Shares Surge To 52-Week Highs?
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remained broadly constructive on ANET, but the article mainly noted that analyst opinions often influence trading rather than providing a major new catalyst. Wall Street Bulls Look Optimistic About Arista Networks (ANET): Should You Buy?
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by co-founder Andreas Bechtolsheim could weigh on sentiment, even if it does not necessarily change the long-term business outlook. Andreas Bechtolsheim Sells 240,000 Shares of Arista Networks NYSE: ANET Stock

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other news, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 240,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.67, for a total transaction of $39,040,800.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 182,043,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,612,942,618.16. The trade was a 0.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.06, for a total transaction of $1,336,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 192,333 shares in the company, valued at $32,131,150.98. This represents a 3.99% 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 3,147,080 shares of company stock valued at $513,396,642. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE ANET traded up $2.77 during trading on Friday, hitting $187.46. The company had a trading volume of 5,583,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,973,050. The company's fifty day moving average is $159.79 and its 200-day moving average is $145.74. The company has a market cap of $236.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.60. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $104.68 and a one year high of $189.82.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.32% and a return on equity of 30.10%. The company had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. Arista Networks's quarterly revenue was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. Arista Networks has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.880 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Arista Networks 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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