Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Short Interest Update

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) was the target of a large decline in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,660,000 shares, a decline of 24.8% from the May 15th total of 10,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,680,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of JNPR opened at $35.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Juniper Networks has a one year low of $33.42 and a one year high of $39.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.99 billion, a PE ratio of 34.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.78.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Juniper Networks had a net margin of 6.78% and a return on equity of 8.71%. Juniper Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on JNPR shares. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Juniper Networks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JNPR. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 47.8% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,224 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.