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

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 5,018 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 665% compared to the typical daily volume of 656 call options.

Juniper Networks Price Performance

JNPR traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $35.74. The stock had a trading volume of 230,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,013,073. The company has a market cap of $11.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a fifty day moving average of $35.12 and a 200 day moving average of $35.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.74. Juniper Networks has a 1 year low of $24.87 and a 1 year high of $38.04.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Juniper Networks had a net margin of 4.19% and a return on equity of 10.02%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Juniper Networks will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 127.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on JNPR shares. Argus upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Thursday, June 20th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.00.

Insider Transactions at Juniper Networks

In other Juniper Networks news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.06, for a total transaction of $205,868.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,003,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,187,078.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.06, for a total value of $205,868.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,003,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,187,078.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.47, for a total transaction of $517,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,393,424.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,330 shares of company stock valued at $1,708,320 over the last 90 days. 1.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Juniper Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Juniper Networks by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,126,775 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,212,417,000 after purchasing an additional 137,652 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,230,251 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $390,028,000 after buying an additional 495,037 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,982,734 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $166,260,000 after purchasing an additional 219,860 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the 4th quarter worth $136,778,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Juniper Networks by 4.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,047,880 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $112,491,000 after buying an additional 176,253 shares during the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.