Saudi Central Bank Purchases 35,255 Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

Saudi Central Bank raised its position in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) by 89.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 74,764 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 35,255 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Arista Networks were worth $12,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lighthouse Financial Services Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $1,549,000. Bensler LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arista Networks during the 4th quarter worth $6,350,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $3,058,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 59.8% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,621 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,309,000 after buying an additional 6,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services purchased a new stake in Arista Networks during the first quarter worth about $5,279,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ANET has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $289.00 price objective (up from $195.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Arista Networks from $210.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $225.76.

Arista Networks Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE ANET opened at $193.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $244.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.62. The company’s 50 day moving average is $182.94 and its 200-day moving average is $160.16. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.52 and a 12-month high of $214.89.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. 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. Equities analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total value of $154,341,575.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 16,387,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,297,589,536.82. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.30, for a total value of $60,990,000.00. Following the sale, the insider 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. 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. Insiders sold 3,782,694 shares of company stock valued at $726,728,187 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s 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.