Juniper Networks’ (JNPR) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their hold rating on shares of Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on JNPR. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a hold rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up from $35.00) on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating on the stock. KeyCorp restated a sector weight rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target 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. Finally, Barclays restated an equal weight rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Juniper Networks currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $34.55.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

NYSE:JNPR opened at $34.71 on Friday. Juniper Networks has a 1 year low of $24.87 and a 1 year high of $38.04. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.28 billion, a PE ratio of 50.31, a PEG ratio of 7.29 and a beta of 0.98.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.01). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 4.19% and a return on equity of 10.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is 127.54%.

Insider Transactions at Juniper Networks

In other news, SVP Robert Mobassaly sold 5,173 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 36,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,326,323.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Robert Mobassaly sold 5,173 shares of Juniper Networks 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 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 at the SEC website. Also, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.06, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 216,302 shares of company stock valued at $8,005,602. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 51.3% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 973 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Juniper Networks by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Juniper Networks by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,576 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Juniper Networks by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 11,075 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC increased its position in Juniper Networks by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 4,968 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. 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.