Metis Global Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Metis Global Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 60.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,792 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 30,068 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,337,000. Twin Securities Inc. increased its stake in Juniper Networks by 760.3% in the third quarter. Twin Securities Inc. now owns 678,257 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,438,000 after purchasing an additional 599,420 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Juniper Networks by 3.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,758,844 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $614,280,000 after purchasing an additional 574,418 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 172,681.3% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 552,900 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $21,552,000 after buying an additional 552,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 1,885.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 497,430 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,390,000 after buying an additional 472,370 shares in the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Juniper Networks Price Performance

Shares of JNPR opened at $35.95 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.46. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.72 and a fifty-two week high of $39.79. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.75. The company has a market capitalization of $11.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.87.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 102.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on JNPR shares. Argus lowered shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Juniper Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Juniper Networks has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Juniper Networks

In other Juniper Networks news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total value of $1,115,827.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 94,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. The trade was a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.