Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $38.65, but opened at $36.21. Juniper Networks shares last traded at $36.29, with a volume of 2,387,644 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on JNPR shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.25.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.04 billion, a PE ratio of 47.88, a P/E/G ratio of 8.57 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.11.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.79%.

Institutional Trading of Juniper Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JNPR. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 12.4% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 14,759 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 1,633 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in Juniper Networks by 73.0% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 12,584 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 5,311 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in Juniper Networks during the second quarter worth $818,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Juniper Networks by 0.7% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 203,828 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $7,432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its position in Juniper Networks by 13.8% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,789 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 2,276 shares in the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.