Magnetar Financial LLC Reduces Holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Magnetar Financial LLC reduced its position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,324,339 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 9,545 shares during the period. Juniper Networks comprises 1.8% of Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Magnetar Financial LLC owned about 0.72% of Juniper Networks worth $84,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 2,069.4% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 781 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Juniper Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new position in Juniper Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Juniper Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on JNPR shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Argus raised Juniper Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Juniper Networks in a report on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Juniper Networks

In other Juniper Networks news, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 40,000 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $1,440,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,059,660. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 108,669 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,279. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Juniper Networks Trading Down 0.2 %

JNPR opened at $38.90 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.38, a PEG ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $38.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.87 and a fifty-two week high of $39.13.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 8.02% and a net margin of 4.58%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Juniper Networks’s revenue was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 127.54%.

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.