Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Strong-Buy” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

JNPR has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded 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 lifted their target price on Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Argus cut Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE JNPR opened at $36.15 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $12.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Juniper Networks has a 12-month low of $33.72 and a 12-month high of $39.79.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In other Juniper Networks news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total value of $1,115,827.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. This represents a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JNPR. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Juniper Networks by 38.6% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 27,799 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,084,000 after buying an additional 7,745 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 964,400 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $37,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 576.3% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 11,084 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 9,445 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 2.9% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 38,488 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $875,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

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.