Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & Co. LLC cut its Arista Networks stake by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 239,166 shares and leaving it with 1,981,392 shares worth about $259.6 million.
• Despite some selling, institutional ownership remains very high: hedge funds and other institutional investors hold about 82.47% of Arista’s stock, and several smaller funds recently opened new positions.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on ANET, with analysts including TD Cowen and Morgan Stanley raising price targets; Arista also beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, while recent insider sales have drawn attention.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,981,392 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 239,166 shares during the period. Arista Networks makes up 0.8% of Lord Abbett & CO. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned 0.16% of Arista Networks worth $259,622,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ANET. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Arista Networks from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Truist Financial set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $176.00 to $173.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $190.00 price objective (up from $180.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $186.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 220,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.93, for a total transaction of $34,744,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 111,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,664,154.64. This represents a 66.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chantelle Yvette Breithaupt sold 2,448 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.00, for a total transaction of $384,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 64,408 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,112,056. The trade was a 3.66% 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. Insiders sold 2,403,142 shares of company stock valued at $388,820,943 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Key Arista Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: An analyst raised Arista Networks’ price target, helping fuel the stock’s recent climb and reinforcing optimism around the company’s outlook. Why Arista Networks Stock Flew More Than 4% Higher on Friday
• Positive Sentiment: Arista rolled out its 7060XE7 Series Ethernet platforms, with faster speeds and up to 100 Tbps switching capacity, which could support rising AI infrastructure spending and strengthen future demand. Can Arista's Advanced Networking Platform Meet the Growing AI Demand?
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank boosted its FY2027 EPS estimate for Arista to $4.00 from $3.95, signaling improved long-term earnings expectations. MarketBeat Arista Networks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market volatility tied to AI spending concerns, interest rates, and economic growth may be influencing trading across tech stocks, including Arista. The Stock Market Is Getting Volatile—Finally. What to Put on Your Buy List.
• Neutral Sentiment: A report noted that Arista co-founder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 220,000 shares, which can draw attention but does not by itself confirm a change in the business outlook. Andreas Bechtolsheim Sells 220,000 Shares of Arista Networks NYSE: ANET Stock

Arista Networks Trading Up 4.5%

Shares of ANET stock opened at $163.38 on Friday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.58 and a 12 month high of $179.80. The stock has a market cap of $205.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.99.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.32% and a return on equity of 30.10%. The business had revenue of $2.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The firm's 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 forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

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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