Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Short Interest Up 11.2% in December

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,630,000 shares, a growth of 11.2% from the December 15th total of 11,360,000 shares. Approximately 3.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,600,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in JNPR. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 60.3% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in Juniper Networks by 71.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,546 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Juniper Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $61,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 84.7% during the 3rd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $76,000. 91.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on JNPR shares. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Juniper Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.25.

Juniper Networks Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE JNPR traded down $0.38 on Monday, reaching $38.47. The company had a trading volume of 4,434,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,920,985. The firm has a market cap of $12.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.61, a P/E/G ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Juniper Networks has a fifty-two week low of $34.30 and a fifty-two week high of $39.79. The business has a 50 day moving average of $37.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.03.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.79%.

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.