Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Shares Sold by Dodge & Cox

Dodge & Cox reduced its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) by 98.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 187,600 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 13,321,638 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox owned approximately 0.06% of Juniper Networks worth $7,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 period. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in Juniper Networks by 91.9% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,263 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Juniper Networks by 139.5% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Juniper Networks

In other news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 represents a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Juniper Networks Price Performance

Juniper Networks stock traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $33.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,001,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,265,915. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.27, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.42 and a 1-year high of $39.79. The stock's fifty day moving average is $35.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.93.

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

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks's payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

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.