Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Grows Position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,540 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,453 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $1,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in Juniper Networks by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 973 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the fourth quarter worth $74,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the fourth quarter worth $81,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

NYSE:JNPR opened at $34.95 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.73. Juniper Networks, Inc. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a PE ratio of 36.79, a P/E/G ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 0.98.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 11.72%. Analysts forecast that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.06, for a total value of $205,868.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,003,429 shares in the company, valued at $37,187,078.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Juniper Networks news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 79,267 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.97, for a total transaction of $2,930,500.99. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,337 shares in the company, valued at $2,563,388.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.06, for a total value of $205,868.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,003,429 shares in the company, valued at $37,187,078.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 216,302 shares of company stock worth $8,005,602. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.