VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Makes New Investment in Arista Networks, Inc. $ANET

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 508,564 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,395,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $46,342,242,000 after buying an additional 271,202,666 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 46,970,697 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,154,570,000 after acquiring an additional 628,146 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 37,171,766 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,870,618,000 after purchasing an additional 380,724 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arista Networks by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,447,629 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,455,095,000 after acquiring an additional 477,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Arista Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,558,563,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ANET has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $190.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Arista Networks from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Arista Networks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $225.76.

Insider Transactions at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, CFO Chantelle Breithaupt sold 612 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.77, for a total transaction of $119,811.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 69,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,688,434.17. This trade represents a 0.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 Arista Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.60, for a total value of $60,780,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 180,843,048 shares in the company, valued at $36,638,801,524.80. This represents a 0.17% decrease in their position. 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 have sold a total of 3,782,694 shares of company stock valued at $726,728,187 in the last three months. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Trending Headlines about Arista Networks

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 Stock Performance

Shares of Arista Networks stock opened at $193.54 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $182.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $160.29. The company has a market cap 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 one year low of $114.52 and a one year high of $214.89.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. 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. On average, analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks 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.