First Trust Advisors LP Has $86.96 Million Stock Position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its stake in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,322,006 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 52,832 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.70% of Juniper Networks worth $86,959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of JNPR. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in Juniper Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted 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 buying an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 139.5% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 616 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.95% of the company's stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of JNPR stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $35.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 981,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,237,721. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $33.42 and a one year high of $39.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.83. The company has a market cap of $11.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks's dividend payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

Insider Transactions at Juniper Networks

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total transaction of $1,115,827.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 94,771 shares of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.