Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Shares Acquired by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 47.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 116,200 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,500 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $4,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in Juniper Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,337,000. Twin Securities Inc. grew its stake in Juniper Networks by 760.3% in the 3rd quarter. Twin Securities Inc. now owns 678,257 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,438,000 after acquiring an additional 599,420 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Juniper Networks by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,758,844 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $614,280,000 after acquiring an additional 574,418 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in Juniper Networks by 172,681.3% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 552,900 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $21,552,000 after acquiring an additional 552,580 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Juniper Networks by 1,885.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 497,430 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,390,000 after acquiring an additional 472,370 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE JNPR opened at $35.99 on Monday. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.72 and a 52 week high of $39.79. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.88. The firm has a market cap of $11.91 billion, a PE ratio of 41.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.87.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its quarterly 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is 102.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Juniper Networks Company 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.