Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the network equipment provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on JNPR. Argus upgraded Juniper Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their target price on Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, April 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.00.

Juniper Networks Price Performance

JNPR stock opened at $35.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.74. Juniper Networks has a 1 year low of $24.87 and a 1 year high of $38.04. The firm has a market cap of $11.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.25 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.03.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.09). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 4.19% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Juniper Networks will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Juniper Networks

In other Juniper Networks news, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.47, for a total value of $517,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,393,424.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.47, for a total transaction of $517,050.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 69,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,393,424.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.06, for a total transaction of $205,868.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,003,429 shares in the company, valued at $37,187,078.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 48,330 shares of company stock valued at $1,708,320. 1.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Juniper Networks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNPR. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,821,292 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $83,172,000 after purchasing an additional 54,735 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Juniper Networks by 2,096.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 452,455 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $13,212,000 after purchasing an additional 431,855 shares in the last quarter. Eisler Capital UK Ltd. acquired a new position in Juniper Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $816,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Juniper Networks by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 178,219 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,254,000 after buying an additional 29,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Juniper Networks by 43.9% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 520,932 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $15,357,000 after buying an additional 158,913 shares during the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is 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.