Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Price Target Raised to $41.00

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

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on JNPR. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a hold rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Juniper Networks from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley raised Juniper Networks from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a sector weight rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Juniper Networks presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $34.55.

Juniper Networks Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE JNPR opened at $34.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.30, a PEG ratio of 7.24 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.88. Juniper Networks has a 1 year low of $24.87 and a 1 year high of $38.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

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. 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 Juniper Networks news, SVP Robert Mobassaly sold 5,173 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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 through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Robert Mobassaly sold 5,173 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.78, for a total value 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.10, for a total transaction of $206,127.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 829,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,770,962.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 216,302 shares of company stock worth $8,005,602 in the last ninety days. 1.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Juniper Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 973 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,576 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 3.5% during the third quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 11,075 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC lifted its position in Juniper Networks by 8.2% during the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 4,968 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.