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

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

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Juniper Networks has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNPR opened at $36.01 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.28. 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 52 week low of $24.87 and a 52 week high of $38.04. The firm has a market cap of $11.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.19, a P/E/G ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 0.96.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 4.19%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Juniper Networks will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 973 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the first quarter worth about $43,000. 91.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.