Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Hits New 1-Year High at $39.79

Shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $39.79 and last traded at $38.96, with a volume of 943677 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on JNPR shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Argus raised shares of Juniper Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Barclays cut their price objective on Juniper Networks from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Juniper Networks in a report on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, July 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.67.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.86. The stock has a market cap of $12.64 billion, a PE ratio of 56.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.69.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 8.02% and a net margin of 4.58%. The business’s revenue was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 127.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JNPR. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 14,314.7% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,832,105 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $176,179,000 after buying an additional 4,798,583 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the first quarter valued at $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 valued at $31,016,000 after purchasing an additional 749,641 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Juniper Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $23,379,000. Finally, Natixis boosted its stake in Juniper Networks by 1,524.4% in the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 470,137 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $17,423,000 after purchasing an additional 441,194 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.