Giverny Capital Inc. Sells 83,469 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• Giverny Capital reduced its Arista Networks stake by 19.7%, selling 83,469 shares in the second quarter and retaining 339,892 shares valued at approximately $57.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.47% of the company.
• Arista reported a strong quarter, with revenue up 37.7% year over year to $3.04 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.02, exceeding analyst expectations. Analysts remain bullish, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $225.76.
• Valuation and insider selling remain risks: the stock trades at roughly 61 times earnings, while insiders have sold about $726.7 million of shares over the past 90 days, primarily through pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.

Giverny Capital Inc. decreased its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 19.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 339,892 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 83,469 shares during the period. Arista Networks accounts for about 2.0% of Giverny Capital Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Giverny Capital Inc.'s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $57,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Arista Networks by 17,042.6% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 272,793,984 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,342,242,000 after purchasing an additional 271,202,666 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth $1,558,563,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $1,101,860,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $537,736,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,878,360 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,032,302,000 after acquiring an additional 2,934,098 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Arista’s investment case remains supported by surging AI infrastructure demand, improving supply-chain execution and strong free cash flow. The company’s shares have gained 37.3% over the past six months, although the recent advance has raised questions about how much upside remains. ANET Rises 37.3% in Six Months: Is There More Room to Grow?
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest quarterly results provide a fundamental catalyst: adjusted earnings of $1.02 per share exceeded the $0.89 consensus estimate, while revenue of $3.04 billion topped the $2.83 billion forecast and increased 37.7% year over year. Arista guided to third-quarter EPS of $1.06-$1.08. Arista Networks Offers Entry After 42% Gain Amid Earnings Beat; Data Center Demand Surging
• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $220 price target. This adds to a generally favorable analyst view, with a consensus Buy rating and an average target of $225.76; UBS, Jefferies and Morgan Stanley have also cited targets above the current trading range.
• Neutral Sentiment: Arista edged higher even as networking peer Ciena weakened after issuing in-line guidance, suggesting investors may be differentiating ANET based on its stronger AI and cloud-networking growth outlook. Ciena Corporation Tumbles 10% as In-Line Guidance Overshadows Earnings Beat, Arista Edges Higher
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Chantelle Breithaupt sold 612 shares worth approximately $119,811. The transaction reduced her holdings by 0.87%, but it was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, limiting its significance as a bearish signal. Arista’s elevated valuation—about 60 times earnings and a PEG ratio of 2.21—also leaves the stock sensitive to slower growth or weaker guidance.

Insider Activity

In other Arista Networks news, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.30, for a total transaction of $60,990,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 181,143,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,826,381,658.40. This represents a 0.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,297,589,536.82. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,782,694 shares of company stock worth $726,728,187. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of ANET stock opened at $193.54 on Monday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $182.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $160.29. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.52 and a 1-year high of $214.89. The company has a market cap of $244.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.62.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.65% and a net margin of 38.37%.The firm's revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.73 earnings per share. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.080 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on ANET shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $210.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.76.

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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