Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on JNPR. Evercore ISI upgraded 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. Barclays boosted their target price on Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Argus lowered Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Juniper Networks presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNPR opened at $36.07 on Thursday. Juniper Networks has a twelve month low of $33.72 and a twelve month high of $39.79. The firm has a market cap of $12.02 billion, a PE ratio of 41.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.46. The business has a fifty day moving average of $36.50 and a 200-day moving average of $37.49.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total transaction of $1,115,827.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 94,771 shares in the company, valued at $3,413,651.42. The trade was a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JNPR. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 596,479 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $22,338,000 after acquiring an additional 81,075 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,130 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134 shares in the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH bought a new stake in Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $602,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,019,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,872,000. Institutional investors own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

About Juniper Networks

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.