Charles Giancarlo Sells 8,000 Shares of Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Director Charles Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.43, for a total value of $1,123,440.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,373,967.12. The trade was a 44.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Arista Networks Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of ANET opened at $128.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $162.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.93, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.42. Arista Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.43 and a 52 week high of $164.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $131.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.75.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.26 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.28% and a net margin of 39.73%.Arista Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arista Networks News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Renewed AI/data-center optimism — multiple recent pieces highlight Arista’s cash strength and positioning to win AI data-center networking spend, supporting a growth re-rating for ANET. Arista Networks’ Cash Strength Underpins AI Data Center Ambitions
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation debate tilting constructive — articles revisiting ANET’s valuation after AI optimism argue the stock can justify higher multiples if AI spending accelerates. This supports analyst target increases and the market’s “moderate buy” consensus. A Look At Arista Networks (ANET) Valuation After Renewed AI Data Center Optimism
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst backdrop mixed but tilted positive — several firms (e.g., Piper Sandler, Morgan Stanley) have maintained or raised targets/ratings recently and the consensus target (~$164) is well above current levels, providing upside if execution continues. (Source: MarketBeat analyst summary)
• Neutral Sentiment: Media/analyst discussion piece — a Zacks article examines whether Wall Street’s bullish views on ANET are actionable for retail investors; useful context but not a direct catalyst. Is It Worth Investing in Arista Networks (ANET) Based on Wall Street’s Bullish Views?
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional activity shows modest additions by several funds and very high institutional ownership (~82%), which supports liquidity and long-term investor interest but is not an immediate price driver.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale by director Charles H. Giancarlo — sold 8,000 shares for ~$1.12M (avg $140.43), reducing his stake by ~45%. Significant insider selling tends to weigh on sentiment and can amplify short‑term selling pressure. SEC filing: SEC Filing

Analyst Ratings Changes

ANET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $183.00 price target (up previously from $179.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler upgraded Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.44.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Arista Networks by 0.4% during the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,509 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,697,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 16,085 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,133,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in Arista Networks by 56.7% in the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 199 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 6,311 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crown Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Arista Networks by 2.4% in the third quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,175 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% 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.