Marshall Wace LLP Sells 604,747 Shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Marshall Wace LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR – Get Rating) by 72.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 229,704 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 604,747 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $5,998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Juniper Networks by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,812,549 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,405,114,000 after acquiring an additional 463,356 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Juniper Networks by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 11,427,573 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $298,488,000 after acquiring an additional 649,160 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Juniper Networks by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,527,273 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $186,028,000 after acquiring an additional 25,317 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Juniper Networks by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,775,661 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $177,471,000 after acquiring an additional 123,177 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Juniper Networks by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,980,313 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $84,939,000 after acquiring an additional 297,322 shares during the period. 89.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE JNPR opened at $30.80 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.94. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $25.18 and a one year high of $38.14. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The network equipment provider reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.65. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Juniper Networks had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 10.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 28th. This is a boost from Juniper Networks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.11%.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In other Juniper Networks news, Director Anne Delsanto sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.24, for a total value of $29,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,675 shares in the company, valued at $569,842. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Anne Delsanto sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.24, for a total transaction of $29,016.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $569,842. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Rami Rahim sold 6,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.79, for a total value of $192,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 763,735 shares in the company, valued at $23,515,400.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,878 shares of company stock worth $1,918,822 in the last ninety days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on JNPR shares. Citigroup upped their price target on Juniper Networks from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. KeyCorp upped their price target on Juniper Networks from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Juniper Networks from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Juniper Networks from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.53.

About Juniper Networks

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Juniper Networks, Inc engages in the business of designing, developing, and selling products and services for high-performance networks to enable customers to build networks for their businesses while achieving agility and improved operating efficiency through automation. The firm also offers routing, switching, Wi-Fi, network security, artificial intelligence-enabled enterprise networking operations, and software-defined networking technologies.