Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Stake Boosted by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) by 19.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,120,532 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 341,423 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.64% of Juniper Networks worth $79,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of JNPR. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Gould Capital LLC lifted its position in Juniper Networks by 1.9% in the third quarter. Gould Capital LLC now owns 29,298 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Juniper Networks by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,913 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 616 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Juniper Networks by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,654 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.95% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Insider Buying and Selling at Juniper Networks

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total value of $1,115,827.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,771 shares in the company, valued at $3,413,651.42. This trade represents a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on JNPR. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Argus downgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Juniper Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Juniper Networks from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Juniper Networks has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Trading Up 2.2 %

JNPR stock traded up $0.75 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.89. 1,083,373 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,862,113. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.42 and a 52-week high of $39.79. The business's 50 day moving average price is $35.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.63 billion, a PE ratio of 40.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.84.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 7.57% and a net margin of 5.67%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Juniper Networks's payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

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.