Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Short Interest Up 11.2% in December

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,630,000 shares, an increase of 11.2% from the December 15th total of 11,360,000 shares. Approximately 3.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 3,600,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on JNPR shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

Juniper Networks Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of JNPR traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $38.47. 4,434,123 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,920,985. Juniper Networks has a 52 week low of $34.30 and a 52 week high of $39.79. The company has a market cap of $12.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.61, a PEG ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JNPR. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 60.3% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 71.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,546 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the 3rd quarter worth about $61,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in Juniper Networks by 84.7% during the third quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Juniper Networks during the third quarter worth about $76,000. 91.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Company Profile

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.