Short Interest in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Expands By 23.6%

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,360,000 shares, a growth of 23.6% from the November 30th total of 9,190,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,870,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Approximately 3.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on JNPR shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.50.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNPR traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $37.37. The stock had a trading volume of 421,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,645,298. The company has a market capitalization of $12.37 billion, a PE ratio of 49.17, a P/E/G ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.89. Juniper Networks has a 1 year low of $29.13 and a 1 year high of $39.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $37.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is 115.79%.

Institutional Trading of Juniper Networks

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Oak Thistle LLC raised its position in Juniper Networks by 4.6% in the second quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 8,015 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 27,941 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 7.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,791 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Keene & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 3.8% during the second quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 11,485 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Juniper Networks by 60.3% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the period. 91.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Juniper Networks

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.