Juniper Networks Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:JNPR)

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 15,185 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 88% compared to the average daily volume of 8,098 call options.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total transaction of $1,115,827.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,771 shares in the company, valued at $3,413,651.42. This trade represents a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Juniper Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JNPR. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 91.9% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,263 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 139.5% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in Juniper Networks by 84.7% during the 3rd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the period. 91.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Trading Down 0.3 %

Juniper Networks stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.01. The company had a trading volume of 897,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,114,229. Juniper Networks has a 12-month low of $33.72 and a 12-month high of $39.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.88, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders 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 2.44%. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on JNPR. StockNews.com downgraded Juniper Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Argus downgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Juniper Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.80.

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.