Sather Financial Group Inc Purchases New Holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Sather Financial Group Inc purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 220,850 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,052,000. Juniper Networks makes up 0.6% of Sather Financial Group Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,821,292 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $83,172,000 after acquiring an additional 54,735 shares in the last quarter. Eisler Capital UK Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the 4th quarter worth $816,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 2,772.3% during the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 457,074 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $16,939,000 after buying an additional 441,161 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in Juniper Networks by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 178,219 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,254,000 after buying an additional 29,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Juniper Networks by 43.9% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 520,932 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,357,000 after acquiring an additional 158,913 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNPR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.25.

Juniper Networks Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of JNPR stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.80. 2,037,019 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,591,234. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.87 and a 12 month high of $39.03. The stock has a market cap of $12.61 billion, a PE ratio of 56.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.52.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 8.02% and a net margin of 4.58%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1 EPS for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is presently 127.54%.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In other news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.17, for a total value of $195,369.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 981,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,509,120.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $1,440,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,059,660. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.17, for a total transaction of $195,369.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 981,209 shares in the company, valued at $34,509,120.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 119,779 shares of company stock worth $4,339,795 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.28% 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.