Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Lowers Holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund cut its holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,623 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 737 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNPR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $136,778,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Juniper Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $86,494,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 859.1% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 836,900 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $31,016,000 after purchasing an additional 749,641 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new position in Juniper Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $23,379,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,230,251 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $390,028,000 after purchasing an additional 495,037 shares in the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Trading Up 1.1 %

JNPR traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $37.65. 774,664 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,712,639. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.36. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.87 and a 52-week high of $38.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.24 billion, a PE ratio of 53.99, a PEG ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 0.95.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 8.02% and a net margin of 4.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. Juniper Networks’s quarterly revenue was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is 127.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Juniper Networks news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.83, for a total value of $193,480.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 997,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,755,951.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.47, for a total transaction of $517,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,393,424.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.83, for a total value of $193,480.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 997,874 shares in the company, valued at $34,755,951.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 145,889 shares of company stock worth $5,243,973. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus raised 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. StockNews.com started coverage on Juniper Networks in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Juniper Networks from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.25.

Juniper Networks 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.