Gabelli Funds LLC Increases Position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 661,442 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,600 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned about 0.20% of Juniper Networks worth $24,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of JNPR. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 40,250 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 7,836 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Juniper Networks by 125.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,876 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,183,000 after purchasing an additional 78,998 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 150.5% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 115,886 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,416,000 after buying an additional 69,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 40,540 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,195,000 after buying an additional 4,499 shares during the period. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Juniper Networks stock opened at $38.90 on Monday. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.87 and a 12-month high of $39.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $12.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $38.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.76.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 8.02% and a net margin of 4.58%. The firm’s revenue was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at Juniper Networks

In related news, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total value of $1,460,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 124,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,554,324. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 108,669 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,279. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.