Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET Shares Sold by Motley Fool Asset Management LLC

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 3.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 87,914 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,495 shares during the quarter. Arista Networks makes up about 0.7% of Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $17,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. William Mack & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. ABS Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY grew its position in Arista Networks by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 247 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ANET. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $259.00 price target (up from $187.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $181.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Arista Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Arista Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $233.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total value of $154,341,575.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 16,387,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,297,589,536.82. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 181,143,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,826,381,658.40. The trade was a 0.17% 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 have sold 3,627,449 shares of company stock valued at $741,235,386 over the last 90 days. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Arista Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Arista’s AI and cloud-networking growth story remains strong. The company is reportedly gaining share in AI data-center networking, including projects that could otherwise have used Nvidia’s InfiniBand technology. Management has also raised its 2026 revenue outlook, citing increased adoption of open Ethernet fabrics. Arista Networks Is Winning AI Data Center Network Share
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are heading into the next earnings report with rising estimates, supported by strong AI-networking demand and continued product innovation. Arista’s prior quarter included revenue growth of 37.7% year over year and earnings above consensus, while third-quarter guidance calls for $1.06–$1.08 in EPS. ANET Stock Before Q3 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Arista was highlighted as a high-growth company with substantial insider ownership, which may appeal to investors seeking businesses whose founders and insiders remain financially aligned with shareholders. Arista Networks and Two Fast-Growing Insider Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: The stock recently posted a strong advance ahead of its November earnings test, but the upcoming report creates a near-term catalyst and raises the risk of volatility if results or guidance do not exceed high expectations. Arista Networks Gains Ahead of Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are focusing on a Prometheus networking deployment, which appears to be prompting renewed scrutiny of Arista’s competitive positioning and execution. Details surrounding the deployment may be contributing to the current weakness. Arista Networks Stocks Move Lower With Prometheus Networking Deployment in Focus
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and costs remain key risks. With a high earnings multiple, Arista needs continued strong growth to justify its share price, while supply-chain expenses could pressure margins. ANET Investment Analysis

Arista Networks Trading Down 0.1%

ANET opened at $186.84 on Thursday. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.52 and a 12-month high of $217.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.65 billion, a PE ratio of 58.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $195.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.17.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.13. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. 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 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks Company Profile

Arista Networks, Inc develops and sells cloud networking solutions for data centers, cloud service providers, enterprises and specialized computing environments. The company’s products are designed to support high-performance, scalable and automated networks used for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data analytics and other demanding applications.

Arista’s portfolio includes data center and campus switches, routing platforms, wireless networking products, network operating software and network management tools.