Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its stake in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,620 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 311 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 60.3% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 84.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 89.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,922 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Juniper Networks Price Performance

NYSE JNPR opened at $35.96 on Tuesday. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.72 and a 52 week high of $39.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market cap of $11.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.87.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted 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 return on equity of 7.57% and a net margin of 5.67%. Analysts forecast that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 102.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNPR has been the topic of several research reports. Argus lowered shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Juniper Networks presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.80.

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.