Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Now Covered by StockNews.com

Stock analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) in a note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the network equipment provider’s stock.

JNPR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Juniper Networks from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.27.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

NYSE JNPR opened at $35.35 on Thursday. Juniper Networks has a 52-week low of $24.87 and a 52-week high of $38.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $11.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.21, a P/E/G ratio of 7.40 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a fifty day moving average of $36.88 and a 200-day moving average of $32.71.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.01). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 5.57%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Juniper Networks will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In related news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $205,071.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 840,518 shares in the company, valued at $31,023,519.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $205,071.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 840,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,023,519.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 98,530 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total transaction of $3,645,610.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 73,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,726,308. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 216,302 shares of company stock worth $8,005,602 over the last 90 days. 1.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 973 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 90.9% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.95% 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.