Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Price Target Raised to $41.00

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) had its target price lifted by Barclays from $40.00 to $41.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the network equipment provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. KeyCorp reiterated a sector weight rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a hold rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up from $35.00) on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. They set a hold rating for the company. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $34.55.

Juniper Networks Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of JNPR opened at $35.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Juniper Networks has a 1-year low of $24.87 and a 1-year high of $38.04. The company has a market capitalization of $11.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.94, a P/E/G ratio of 7.24 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.94.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.01). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 4.19% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Juniper Networks will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is 127.54%.

Insider Transactions at Juniper Networks

In related news, SVP Robert Mobassaly sold 5,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.78, for a total transaction of $190,262.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 36,061 shares in the company, valued at $1,326,323.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Robert Mobassaly sold 5,173 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.78, for a total transaction of $190,262.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 36,061 shares in the company, valued at $1,326,323.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 98,530 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 73,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,726,308. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 216,302 shares of company stock worth $8,005,602. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNPR. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 34.4% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 90.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Juniper Networks Company Profile

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.