Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Juniper Networks Put Options (NYSE:JNPR)

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 7,826 put options on the company. This is an increase of 778% compared to the average volume of 891 put options.

Juniper Networks Trading Down 2.5 %

NYSE:JNPR opened at $35.61 on Tuesday. Juniper Networks has a 12-month low of $26.66 and a 12-month high of $39.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.42. The firm has a market cap of $11.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.85, a PEG ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 0.93.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is currently 115.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on JNPR. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Juniper Networks in a report on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.50.

Institutional Trading of Juniper Networks

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Juniper Networks by 14,314.7% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,832,105 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $176,179,000 after purchasing an additional 4,798,583 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Juniper Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $86,494,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 859.1% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $23,379,000. Finally, Twin Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 760.3% in the 3rd quarter. Twin Securities Inc. now owns 678,257 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,438,000 after buying an additional 599,420 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

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.