Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 18,120 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. cut its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 523,121 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 18,120 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $88,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 321.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,806 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 5,955 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $202,000. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Arista Networks by 48.4% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,723 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496 shares during the period. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its position in shares of Arista Networks by 31.3% during the 2nd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 4,193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $255.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $250.00 target price on Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $226.05.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

NYSE ANET opened at $189.15 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $177.57 and a 200-day moving average of $156.28. The stock has a market cap of $238.56 billion, a PE ratio of 59.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.52 and a 52-week high of $214.89.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced 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. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.37% and a return on equity of 30.65%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. Arista Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.080 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 181,143,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,826,381,658.40. This trade represents a 0.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 16,387,981 shares in the company, valued at $3,297,589,536.82. This represents a 4.47% 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 4,128,775 shares of company stock worth $767,332,289 over the last 90 days. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Arista Networks News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Arista’s leadership in high-speed networking for cloud and AI infrastructure is highlighted as a key advantage over Salesforce, reinforcing the company’s long-term growth profile. Arista Networks vs. Salesforce: Which Technology Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026?
• Positive Sentiment: ANET was included among high-return-on-equity, cash-rich stocks that may appeal to investors seeking quality during volatile markets. Arista’s reported return on equity was approximately 31%. 5 High ROE Stocks to Buy as Markets Sway on Intense Volatility
• Positive Sentiment: Arista has nearly tripled multiyear purchase commitments to roughly $9.7 billion, suggesting management is securing components in anticipation of sustained AI and cloud demand. The spending also signals confidence in a sizable future order pipeline, though it raises execution and inventory risks. Can ANET Stock Compound Its Way Higher?
• Positive Sentiment: Arista’s second-quarter performance was presented as strong enough to support a higher price target. The company recently beat consensus earnings and revenue estimates and issued third-quarter EPS guidance of $1.06 to $1.08. Arista Networks: Q2 2026 Justifies A Higher Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Compared with CoreWeave, Arista generates substantially more revenue and has delivered steadier quarter-over-quarter growth, while CoreWeave is expanding faster. The comparison supports Arista’s scale but highlights increasing competition in AI infrastructure. Arista Networks vs. CoreWeave: What Revenue Trends Tell Investors About These Artificial Intelligence Companies
• Negative Sentiment: At an elevated valuation, investors are paying for continued rapid growth. Arista’s future margins could depend heavily on the mix and profitability of customers behind its large capacity commitments. What You Are Really Paying For In Arista Networks Stock

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.