KBC Group NV Sells 257,170 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• KBC Group NV trimmed its Arista stake by 18.2%, selling 257,170 shares and leaving 1,157,321 shares (about 0.09% of the company) worth roughly $151.6 million at the end of the reporting period.
• Significant insider selling has occurred recently — including CEO Jayshree Ullal's 112,812-share sale — with insiders selling 312,444 shares (~$43.8M) in the past 90 days and insider ownership at 3.39%, which could weigh on near-term sentiment.
• Arista reported a strong quarter (EPS $0.82 vs. $0.75 expected; revenue up 28.9% to $2.49B) and benefits from AI infrastructure demand, and Wall Street is broadly bullish (consensus "Buy" with a $176.44 target and several firms raising price targets up to $200).

KBC Group NV trimmed its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 18.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,157,321 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 257,170 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned about 0.09% of Arista Networks worth $151,644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,000,830 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $14,571,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007,730 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 46,342,551 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,752,573,000 after acquiring an additional 245,976 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Arista Networks by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,094,255 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,470,834,000 after acquiring an additional 181,813 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew 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 worth $1,396,939,000 after acquiring an additional 4,332,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 5,525,828 shares during the period. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, insider Kenneth Duda sold 32,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.14, for a total value of $4,292,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,740,600.64. This represents a 71.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.43, for a total transaction of $1,123,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,373,967.12. This represents a 44.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 312,444 shares of company stock valued at $43,807,814. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

More Arista Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Arista from "hold" to "strong-buy", which can drive buying interest from retail and momentum-focused funds. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple pieces highlight Arista as a beneficiary of rising AI infrastructure demand (hyperscale data centers, low‑latency/high‑throughput networking), reinforcing revenue growth expectations. This thematic bullishness supports higher multiple expansion for ANET. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage notes Arista outperformed the broader market in the latest session, reflecting short‑term buying momentum. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Peers show accelerating demand: Cisco reported strong AI‑driven networking growth and Ciena is lifting capex amid backlog and orders — these validate a broader market tailwind for network vendors but also signal intensifying competition and supply dynamics. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several market pieces review analyst sentiment and what to expect for Arista's next earnings — these can amplify volatility around guidance and estimates but don't by themselves change fundamentals. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 112,812 shares at an average $150.11 under a pre‑arranged 10b5‑1 plan, cutting her reported direct ownership sharply. Large insider sales can put short‑term pressure on sentiment even when executed under a trading plan. Read More.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

Shares of ANET stock opened at $154.13 on Thursday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $66.59 and a fifty-two week high of $164.94. The firm has a market cap of $193.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.48. The business's 50 day moving average price is $135.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.08.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ANET. Truist Financial began coverage on Arista Networks in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $161.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $184.00 target price (up from $183.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $175.00 price target (up from $159.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group set a $200.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Susquehanna raised shares of Arista Networks to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $176.44.

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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