Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) PT Raised to $41.00 at Barclays

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $40.00 to $41.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the network equipment provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. KeyCorp reiterated a sector weight rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com started coverage on Juniper Networks in a research note on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a hold rating and set a $40.00 price target (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price 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. 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, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $34.55.

Juniper Networks Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Juniper Networks stock opened at $34.71 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Juniper Networks has a 52-week low of $24.87 and a 52-week high of $38.04. The company has a market capitalization of $11.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.30, a P/E/G ratio of 7.24 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $36.79 and a 200 day moving average of $32.88.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 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 business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Juniper Networks will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Robert Mobassaly sold 5,173 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.78, for a total value of $190,262.94. Following 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Juniper Networks news, SVP Robert Mobassaly sold 5,173 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.78, for a total transaction of $190,262.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 36,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,326,323.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.53, for a total transaction of $208,479.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,019,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,265,175.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 216,302 shares of company stock valued at $8,005,602. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Juniper Networks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks in the first quarter valued at about $234,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Juniper Networks by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 300,096 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $11,122,000 after acquiring an additional 1,573 shares in the last quarter. Regis Management CO LLC purchased a new position in Juniper Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $245,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Juniper Networks by 202.2% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 218,757 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,107,000 after acquiring an additional 146,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Juniper Networks by 17.2% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 15,726 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 2,306 shares in the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.