Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the network equipment provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a hold rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, July 26th. 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 report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Juniper Networks from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $36.25.

Juniper Networks Price Performance

JNPR stock opened at $38.86 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $12.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.32, a P/E/G ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.46. Juniper Networks has a 1 year low of $24.87 and a 1 year high of $39.01.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 8.02% and a net margin of 4.58%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks will post 1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is 127.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Juniper Networks

In other news, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 40,000 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $1,440,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,059,660. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.49, for a total transaction of $197,146.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 970,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,428,813.51. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $1,440,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,059,660. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 119,779 shares of company stock valued at $4,339,795. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 2,069.4% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 781 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 745 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new position in Juniper Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. 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.