Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado trimmed its holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 2.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,786 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 998 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $1,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JNPR. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Juniper Networks in the first quarter worth about $86,494,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 859.1% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 836,900 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,016,000 after acquiring an additional 749,641 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $23,379,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,230,251 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $390,028,000 after acquiring an additional 495,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 1,524.4% during the first quarter. Natixis now owns 470,137 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $17,423,000 after purchasing an additional 441,194 shares during the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on JNPR. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, July 26th. 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 note on Tuesday, June 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on 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. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Monday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.67.

Juniper Networks Stock Down 0.2 %

JNPR opened at $38.81 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market cap of $12.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.25, a P/E/G ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.93. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.87 and a 12 month high of $39.13.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Juniper Networks had a net margin of 4.58% and a return on equity of 8.02%. Juniper Networks’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 2nd were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 127.54%.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In other Juniper Networks news, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total transaction of $1,460,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 124,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,554,324. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 108,669 shares of company stock worth $3,947,279 over the last quarter. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.