Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Shares Bought by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 83.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,884 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,138 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNPR. CWM LLC raised its position in Juniper Networks by 29.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,471 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 1,482 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,929 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $816,000 after purchasing an additional 2,140 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 162.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,111 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 2,543 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Juniper Networks during the third quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Axecap Investments LLC acquired a new position in Juniper Networks during the third quarter worth about $1,996,000. 91.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on JNPR shares. Argus downgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:JNPR opened at $36.03 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $11.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.87. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.72 and a 52-week high of $39.79. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.92.

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

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 102.33%.

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.