Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller Sells 15,000 Shares

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.72, for a total value of $415,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $831,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

NYSE:JNPR opened at $27.67 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a PE ratio of 24.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.93. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.87 and a twelve month high of $34.53. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.70.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on JNPR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Juniper Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $29.00 in a report on Monday, October 9th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 28th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Juniper Networks from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $1,405,114,000 after purchasing an additional 463,356 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Juniper Networks by 3.4% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 35,586,752 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,114,933,000 after buying an additional 1,160,174 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 98,625.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 23,598,372 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $739,337,000 after acquiring an additional 23,574,469 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Juniper Networks by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,412,994 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $514,219,000 after buying an additional 1,613,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 10,361,222 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $356,633,000 after purchasing an additional 609,945 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.79% of the company’s stock.

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.