Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Receives $39.80 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $39.80.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports 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. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their price target on Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Juniper Networks Trading Up 0.3 %

Juniper Networks stock opened at $36.06 on Friday. Juniper Networks has a 12 month low of $33.72 and a 12 month high of $39.79. The company has a market capitalization of $11.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 7.57% and a net margin of 5.67%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,929 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $816,000 after purchasing an additional 2,140 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Juniper Networks by 162.2% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,111 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 2,543 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the third quarter worth about $213,000. Axecap Investments LLC purchased a new position in Juniper Networks in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,996,000. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 82,559 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after buying an additional 8,873 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

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.