Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET – Free Report) by 3.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 523,121 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 18,120 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $88,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ANET. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the fourth quarter worth $1,558,563,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,878,360 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,032,302,000 after acquiring an additional 2,934,098 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 34.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,725,196 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,712,788,000 after acquiring an additional 2,497,275 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in Arista Networks by 86.0% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,240,951 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $520,168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,960,829 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $198,285,000. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ANET. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $289.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $259.00 price target (up from $187.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up from $190.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $181.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $226.05.
Arista Networks Stock Performance
NYSE ANET opened at $189.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $238.56 billion, a PE ratio of 59.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.28. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.52 and a 52-week high of $214.89.
Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET – Get Free Report) last posted 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. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.65% and a net margin of 38.37%.The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. Arista Networks’s revenue for the quarter 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 forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Key Stories Impacting Arista Networks
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
Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks
In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.02, for a total transaction of $1,448,160.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 184,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,367,959.66. This represents a 4.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 573,509 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total value of $119,364,428.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,203,250. The trade was a 95.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 4,128,775 shares of company stock worth $767,332,289. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Arista Networks Company 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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