Insider Selling: Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Major Shareholder Sells $60,990,000.00 in Stock

Key Points

  • Major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 Arista Networks shares for approximately $60.99 million at an average price of $203.30. The transaction was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, and he retained about 181.4 million shares.
  • Arista reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.02 versus the $0.89 consensus and revenue of $3.04 billion, up 37.7% year over year. Management also issued optimistic guidance, supported by continued demand for AI data-center networking.
  • Analysts remain broadly bullish, with an average “Buy” rating and a $226.05 price target, but the stock’s elevated valuation and recent rally could leave it vulnerable if AI demand, margins or guidance disappoint.

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.30, for a total value of $60,990,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 181,443,048 shares in the company, valued at $36,887,371,658.40. This represents a 0.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company's shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Andreas Bechtolsheim also recently made the following trade(s):

  • On Thursday, July 2nd, Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 240,000 shares of Arista Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.67, for a total value of $39,040,800.00.
  • On Wednesday, July 1st, Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 260,000 shares of Arista Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.22, for a total value of $42,697,200.00.
  • On Monday, June 15th, Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 260,000 shares of Arista Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.57, for a total value of $43,048,200.00.
  • On Friday, June 5th, Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 220,000 shares of Arista Networks stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.93, for a total transaction of $34,744,600.00.
  • On Thursday, June 4th, Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 240,000 shares of Arista Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.06, for a total transaction of $39,134,400.00.
  • On Tuesday, May 26th, Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 220,000 shares of Arista Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.86, for a total transaction of $34,509,200.00.
  • On Friday, May 22nd, Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 205,000 shares of Arista Networks stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.74, for a total transaction of $31,106,700.00.

Arista Networks Price Performance




ANET stock opened at $188.61 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.33. The stock has a market cap of $237.88 billion, a PE ratio of 59.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.60. Arista Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $114.52 and a one year 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. The business'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, research analysts expect that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ANET shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $255.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $250.00 price objective on Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $289.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $226.05.

Get Our Latest Report on ANET

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ANET. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Arista Networks by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,189,629 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $13,258,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188,799 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 628,146 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Arista Networks by 1.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 477,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Arista Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,558,563,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Arista Networks News

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

  • Positive Sentiment: Record earnings reinforced the growth story: Arista reported adjusted EPS of $1.02 versus the $0.89 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 37.7% year over year to $3.04 billion, exceeding expectations of $2.83 billion. It was the company’s first quarter above $3 billion. Arista Books Its First $3 Billion Quarter
  • Positive Sentiment: AI networking demand remains strong: Hyperscaler and enterprise spending on AI data-center infrastructure is supporting Arista’s switching, routing and cloud networking businesses. The company also introduced new 1.6 Tbps AI networking platforms that could expand its Ethernet opportunity, although customer adoption and execution remain key. How Arista’s New AI Platform Could Expand ANET’s Growth Story
  • Positive Sentiment: Management raised its outlook: Arista guided for approximately $3.3 billion of third-quarter revenue and $1.06–$1.08 in EPS. Its 2026 revenue outlook was lifted to $12.6 billion, helped by improving supply availability and sustained AI demand. Arista Projects $12.6 Billion 2026 Revenue
  • Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain bullish: Rosenblatt, TD Cowen, Piper Sandler and Truist raised price targets to $280, $250, $240 and $234, respectively, while maintaining positive ratings. Additional coverage describes ANET as a high-growth stock with strong profitability and return on equity.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Insider sale was planned: Director Charles Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares for about $1.45 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. He retained 184,333 shares, limiting the significance of the transaction. SEC insider transaction filing
  • Negative Sentiment: Valuation is a near-term concern: Following a roughly 30% three-month rally, ANET trades at an elevated earnings multiple. Investors may be taking profits because substantial AI growth is already reflected in the stock, leaving limited room for weaker demand, margin pressure, supply issues or guidance misses.

Arista Networks Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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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