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

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.00.

JNPR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Argus raised shares of Juniper Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Saturday, July 6th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, April 26th.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of JNPR stock opened at $36.93 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.62 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.74. Juniper Networks has a one year low of $24.87 and a one year high of $38.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $35.36 and its 200 day moving average is $35.78.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.09). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 4.19% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Juniper Networks will post 1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is 127.54%.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,649 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,008,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 12.8% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,989 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $182,000 after buying an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Juniper Networks by 8.9% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,903 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in Juniper Networks by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 71,206 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,596,000 after buying an additional 2,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Juniper Networks by 297.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,300 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 3,217 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

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.