Renaissance Technologies LLC Cuts Position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lessened its position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 65.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 643,809 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,197,799 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.20% of Juniper Networks worth $23,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JNPR. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $136,778,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $86,494,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 859.1% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 836,900 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $31,016,000 after buying an additional 749,641 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $23,379,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,230,251 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $390,028,000 after buying an additional 495,037 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total value of $1,460,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 124,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,554,324. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 108,669 shares of company stock worth $3,947,279. Corporate insiders own 1.28% of the company’s stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of JNPR opened at $38.96 on Friday. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.87 and a 52 week high of $39.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $12.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.46, a PEG ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.74.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. Juniper Networks’s revenue was down 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 0.97 EPS for the current year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.25.

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.