385,849 Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET Shares Acquired by Professional Advisory Services Inc.

Professional Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 30,144.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 387,129 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 385,849 shares during the quarter. Arista Networks accounts for approximately 9.2% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $78,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 159.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 121,303,125 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,606,975,000 after buying an additional 74,541,134 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Arista Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,101,860,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Arista Networks by 199.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,630,196 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,635,978,000 after acquiring an additional 6,409,612 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $537,736,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,725,196 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,712,788,000 after acquiring an additional 2,497,275 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANET has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $259.00 target price (up from $187.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $210.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $255.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $181.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Kenneth Duda sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.51, for a total transaction of $4,433,260.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 462,400 shares in the company, valued at $78,843,824. This trade represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 3,144,894 shares of company stock worth $631,310,023 in the last ninety days. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Arista Networks Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ANET traded down $4.95 on Thursday, hitting $210.88. 4,874,947 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,920,179. The stock has a market capitalization of $265.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.60. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.52 and a 12 month high of $217.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $197.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $171.74.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.37% and a return on equity of 30.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.080 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: New AI networking portfolio supports growth prospects. Arista introduced an open Ethernet rack-scale portfolio for high-density AI infrastructure, designed for both scale-up and scale-out networks. The solutions use open standards, liquid cooling and partnerships with companies including AMD, Broadcom, Meta, Microsoft and Qualcomm. The launch could help Arista win business from proprietary alternatives such as NVIDIA’s InfiniBand by giving hyperscalers greater hardware flexibility. Arista Announces Rack-Scale Architectures for Scale-Up and Scale-Out AI Fabrics
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure demand remains the central bullish catalyst. Investment commentary highlights Arista as a potential beneficiary of sustained hyperscaler and data-center spending, with investors increasingly favoring companies showing clear AI monetization and execution. The company’s Ethernet opportunity is expanding as cloud providers seek vendor-neutral networking systems. Arista Networks Could Be a Key Winner From the AI Infrastructure Boom
• Positive Sentiment: Recent operating results and guidance were strong. Arista’s latest quarter generated $3.04 billion in revenue, up 37.7% year over year, while earnings per share of $1.02 exceeded consensus expectations. Management’s outlook for approximately $1.06-$1.08 in third-quarter EPS reinforces expectations for continued data-center growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: Momentum has been substantial, but the valuation leaves less room for disappointment. The stock has risen roughly 65% year to date and trades at a high earnings multiple. Supporters view the premium as justified by rapid growth, strong margins and a debt-light balance sheet, while investors may be taking profits after the recent record high. Arista Stock Rises 64.7% YTD: Is There More Upside Ahead?
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks downgraded Arista from “strong buy” to “hold.” The rating change may be weighing on sentiment, particularly after the stock’s sharp rally. Analysts also cite customer concentration and potential margin pressure as risks to the upside. Arista Networks Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Arista Networks Profile

Arista Networks, Inc develops and sells cloud networking solutions for data centers, campus environments and high-performance computing applications. Its products include Ethernet switches, routers, wireless access points and related networking equipment designed to support cloud computing, artificial intelligence, enterprise and service-provider networks.

The company’s software portfolio includes Arista EOS, its network operating system, and CloudVision, a platform that helps customers manage, automate and monitor network infrastructure.