Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.50.

JNPR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, November 1st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of JNPR. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Juniper Networks by 5.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 446,529 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $17,406,000 after buying an additional 21,651 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,337,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Juniper Networks by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 210,338 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $8,153,000 after purchasing an additional 35,337 shares during the period. Gould Capital LLC increased its holdings in Juniper Networks by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Gould Capital LLC now owns 29,298 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Juniper Networks by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,540,330 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $371,269,000 after purchasing an additional 417,050 shares in the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Juniper Networks stock opened at $37.45 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.72. Juniper Networks has a fifty-two week low of $29.13 and a fifty-two week high of $39.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.81. The company has a market capitalization of $12.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.28, a PEG ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.89.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.79%.

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.