Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Argus downgraded Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Juniper Networks presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of JNPR opened at $36.07 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.50 and a 200-day moving average of $37.50. The company has a market cap of $12.02 billion, a PE ratio of 41.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. Juniper Networks has a one year low of $33.72 and a one year high of $39.79.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total value of $1,115,827.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 47.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,263 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 139.5% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 84.7% in the third quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Juniper Networks

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.