Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 4,798,583 Shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 14,314.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,832,105 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,798,583 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned 1.49% of Juniper Networks worth $176,179,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eisler Capital UK Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $816,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Juniper Networks by 2,772.3% in the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 457,074 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,939,000 after buying an additional 441,161 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 178,219 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,254,000 after buying an additional 29,905 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new stake in Juniper Networks in the first quarter valued at about $4,945,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 150.5% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 115,886 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,416,000 after purchasing an additional 69,615 shares in the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of JNPR stock opened at $38.90 on Friday. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.87 and a 12-month 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $38.33 and a 200-day moving average of $36.77. The company has a market capitalization of $12.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.38, a P/E/G ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.93.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 8.02% and a net margin of 4.58%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Juniper Networks’s revenue was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is presently 127.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on JNPR shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays decreased 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 note on Friday, July 26th. Argus raised Juniper Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Juniper Networks in a research report on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.25.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In other news, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $1,440,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,059,660. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 108,669 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,279. Insiders own 1.28% of the company’s stock.

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.