Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $35.00.

JNPR has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, April 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com started coverage on Juniper Networks in a research note on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.47, for a total transaction of $517,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 69,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,393,424.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Juniper Networks news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.86, for a total value of $193,647.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,398,593.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.47, for a total transaction of $517,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,393,424.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 145,889 shares of company stock worth $5,243,973. Company insiders own 1.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Juniper Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNPR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Juniper Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $136,778,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Juniper Networks by 11,418.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,829,071 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $83,401,000 after purchasing an additional 2,804,509 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Juniper Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $86,494,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Juniper Networks by 859.1% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 836,900 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $31,016,000 after buying an additional 749,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 202.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 983,911 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,006,000 after buying an additional 658,957 shares in the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNPR opened at $37.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $12.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.91, a P/E/G ratio of 9.68 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $35.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.05. Juniper Networks has a one year low of $24.87 and a one year high of $38.04.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.09). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 4.19%. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Juniper Networks will post 1.08 EPS for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 127.54%.

Juniper Networks Company Profile

Juniper Networks, Inc designs, develops, and sells network products and services worldwide. The company offers routing products, such as ACX series universal access routers to deploy high-bandwidth services; MX series Ethernet routers that function as a universal edge platform; PTX series packet transport routers; wide-area network SDN controllers; and session smart routers.