Pacer Advisors Inc. Raises Holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Arista Networks by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, ending with 583,521 shares worth about $76.5 million.
• Arista posted strong recent results, with Q1 EPS of $0.87 beating estimates and revenue of $2.71 billion rising 35.1% year over year. The company also guided Q2 2026 EPS at $0.88.
• Analyst sentiment remains bullish: several firms raised or reiterated positive ratings, and the stock has a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $187.63. Meanwhile, insiders have sold shares recently, including CEO Jayshree Ullal and major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 583,521 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 60,516 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $76,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Prosperity Bancshares Inc bought a new position in Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 428,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total value of $75,944,320.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 5,209,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $924,321,690.08. This trade represents a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 260,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.57, for a total value of $43,048,200.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 182,543,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,223,652,457.36. This represents a 0.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,603,747 shares of company stock worth $423,901,619. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Arista Networks Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of NYSE:ANET opened at $169.84 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $157.61 and a 200 day moving average of $141.24. The stock has a market cap of $213.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.61. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.58 and a 12 month high of $179.80.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Arista Networks has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.880 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on ANET. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Arista Networks to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Truist Financial set a $175.00 target price on Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Arista Networks from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $164.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $187.63.

Key Headlines Impacting Arista Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wolfe Research reaffirmed an Outperform rating on Arista Networks with a $175 price target, following discussions with management that reinforced confidence in the company’s growth outlook. Wolfe Research Reaffirms Bullish View on Arista Networks (ANET) With $175 Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: KeyBanc’s bullish stance highlights Arista as a beneficiary of strong AI-related networking demand, which supports the company’s long-term data center growth story. Arista sees bullish views at KeyBanc on AI demand
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage continues to frame Arista as a key player in AI infrastructure and data center switching, keeping investor interest elevated in the stock. Why Is Arista Networks Driving S&P 500 AI Infrastructure Growth?
• Neutral Sentiment: Nvidia taking the top spot in the data center Ethernet switching market underscores how competitive the AI networking space has become, though it also reinforces the size of the market Arista is targeting. Nvidia Overtakes Rivals in Data Center Switching Market
• Neutral Sentiment: Arista remains in focus after a strong multi-month run, with some commentary asking whether the stock has already priced in much of the good news. Arista Networks (ANET) Stock After 87% Annual Gain Is It Time To Pause?
• Negative Sentiment: Major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 260,000 shares in a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 transaction, which may create modest pressure on sentiment even though the sale was small relative to his holdings. SEC filing for Andreas Bechtolsheim transaction
• Negative Sentiment: Recent market coverage noted that ANET declined more than the broader market, suggesting some short-term profit-taking after its powerful run. Arista Networks (ANET) Declines More Than Market: Some Information for Investors

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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