Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 1,250,552 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the previous session’s volume of 3,750,181 shares.The stock last traded at $37.06 and had previously closed at $37.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on JNPR. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Argus raised shares of Juniper Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Juniper Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.36.

Juniper Networks Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business’s 50-day moving average is $35.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.20. The company has a market capitalization of $12.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 0.95.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.09). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 4.19% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 127.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $1,440,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,435 shares in the company, valued at $1,059,660. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 40,000 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $1,440,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,435 shares in the company, valued at $1,059,660. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.49, for a total transaction of $197,146.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 970,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,428,813.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 145,889 shares of company stock worth $5,243,973. Insiders own 1.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Juniper Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Juniper Networks by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 368 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.