Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.55.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on JNPR shares. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Juniper Networks from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock.

Juniper Networks Price Performance

Juniper Networks stock opened at $34.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Juniper Networks has a one year low of $24.87 and a one year high of $38.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.49, a PEG ratio of 8.78 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $36.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.03.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.01). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 4.19%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Juniper Networks will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 127.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Juniper Networks news, SVP Robert Mobassaly sold 5,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.78, for a total transaction of $190,262.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 36,061 shares in the company, valued at $1,326,323.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Juniper Networks news, SVP Robert Mobassaly sold 5,173 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.78, for a total value of $190,262.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 36,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,326,323.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,556 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.10, for a total value of $206,127.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 829,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,770,962.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 227,412 shares of company stock valued at $8,392,730 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Juniper Networks

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Juniper Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 973 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. 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.