VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Purchases Shares of 508,564 Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 508,564 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,395,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 17,042.6% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 272,793,984 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,342,242,000 after acquiring an additional 271,202,666 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Arista Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,558,563,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Arista Networks during the second quarter worth about $1,101,860,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Arista Networks during the second quarter worth about $537,736,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,878,360 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,032,302,000 after purchasing an additional 2,934,098 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arista Networks Stock Performance

ANET stock opened at $193.54 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $182.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $160.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $244.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.05, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.62. Arista Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.52 and a fifty-two week high of $214.89.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. The firm’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. Equities analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 13,809 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.79, for a total value of $2,648,428.11. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,981.43. This represents a 58.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chantelle Breithaupt sold 612 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.77, for a total value of $119,811.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 69,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,688,434.17. This represents a 0.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,782,694 shares of company stock worth $726,728,187. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $289.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Arista Networks from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report 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 given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Arista Networks currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.76.

Key Arista Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Arista’s investment case remains supported by surging AI infrastructure demand, improving supply-chain execution and strong free cash flow. The company’s shares have gained 37.3% over the past six months, although the recent advance has raised questions about how much upside remains. ANET Rises 37.3% in Six Months: Is There More Room to Grow?
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest quarterly results provide a fundamental catalyst: adjusted earnings of $1.02 per share exceeded the $0.89 consensus estimate, while revenue of $3.04 billion topped the $2.83 billion forecast and increased 37.7% year over year. Arista guided to third-quarter EPS of $1.06-$1.08. Arista Networks Offers Entry After 42% Gain Amid Earnings Beat; Data Center Demand Surging
• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $220 price target. This adds to a generally favorable analyst view, with a consensus Buy rating and an average target of $225.76; UBS, Jefferies and Morgan Stanley have also cited targets above the current trading range.
• Neutral Sentiment: Arista edged higher even as networking peer Ciena weakened after issuing in-line guidance, suggesting investors may be differentiating ANET based on its stronger AI and cloud-networking growth outlook. Ciena Corporation Tumbles 10% as In-Line Guidance Overshadows Earnings Beat, Arista Edges Higher
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Chantelle Breithaupt sold 612 shares worth approximately $119,811. The transaction reduced her holdings by 0.87%, but it was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, limiting its significance as a bearish signal. Arista’s elevated valuation—about 60 times earnings and a PEG ratio of 2.21—also leaves the stock sensitive to slower growth or weaker guidance.

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.