Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Shares Acquired by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 131,111 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,205 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $4,910,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNPR. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Juniper Networks by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in Juniper Networks by 91.9% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,263 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Juniper Networks by 139.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Juniper Networks by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the period. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Juniper Networks Stock Down 0.5%

JNPR stock opened at $36.08 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.42 and a 52 week high of $39.79.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNPR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Juniper Networks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Juniper Networks currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total transaction of $1,115,827.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 94,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. This represents a 24.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.