Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.80.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus downgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI raised Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays increased 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.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total transaction of $1,115,827.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. This trade represents a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Juniper Networks by 91.9% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,263 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Juniper Networks by 139.5% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of JNPR opened at $36.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.98, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. Juniper Networks has a 52 week low of $33.72 and a 52 week 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $36.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.46.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. On average, analysts predict that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is 102.33%.

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.