Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Shares Acquired by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE increased its position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,394 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,447 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 5.1% in the 3rd 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. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 60.3% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the 3rd quarter worth $2,202,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the 3rd quarter worth $2,731,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

JNPR opened at $35.62 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.72 and a 1-year high of $39.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.65.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. Research analysts predict that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.33%.

Insider Transactions at Juniper Networks

In other news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total value of $1,115,827.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. This represents a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered Juniper Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI raised Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus cut Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.80.

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.