Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Strong-Buy Rating

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

JNPR has been the subject of several other reports. Argus lowered Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their target price on Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Juniper Networks currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of JNPR opened at $35.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.82 billion, a PE ratio of 41.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $37.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Juniper Networks has a 12-month low of $33.72 and a 12-month high of $39.79.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 7.57% and a net margin of 5.67%. Equities research analysts forecast that Juniper Networks will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Juniper Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 60.3% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Gould Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 1.9% in the third quarter. Gould Capital LLC now owns 29,298 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after buying an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,913 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $184,000 after buying an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 47,639 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,447 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $409,000 after acquiring an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.