Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 26,547 Shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR – Get Rating) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 445,188 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 26,547 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $14,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of JNPR. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Juniper Networks by 91.9% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,094 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC purchased a new position in Juniper Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Juniper Networks by 109.6% during the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,748 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 1,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Juniper Networks by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,093 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. 89.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on JNPR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Monday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Juniper Networks presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Juniper Networks news, Director Anne Delsanto sold 900 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.75, for a total transaction of $27,675.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $819,057. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 6,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.31, for a total transaction of $195,687.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 949,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,731,631.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Anne Delsanto sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.75, for a total transaction of $27,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $819,057. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,700 shares of company stock valued at $847,251 in the last 90 days. 1.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Juniper Networks Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of JNPR opened at $29.22 on Thursday. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.18 and a 52-week high of $34.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $31.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.48. The stock has a market cap of $9.40 billion, a PE ratio of 19.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.95.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 31st. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.52%.

Juniper Networks Profile

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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.