Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Shares Sold by Diametric Capital LP

Diametric Capital LP decreased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,378 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,889 shares during the period. Diametric Capital LP’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 47.8% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 139.5% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,654 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Juniper Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Price Performance

NYSE JNPR opened at $36.20 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $12.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.38. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.72 and a 52-week high of $39.79.

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

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is 102.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Juniper Networks

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total transaction of $1,115,827.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 94,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. This trade represents a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.28% of the company’s stock.

Juniper Networks 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.