Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) by 20.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 210,338 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 35,337 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Juniper Networks worth $8,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in JNPR. Oak Thistle LLC lifted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 4.6% during the second quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 8,015 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 27,941 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,019,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,791 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Keene & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Juniper Networks by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 11,485 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Juniper Networks by 60.3% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. 91.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Price Performance

JNPR traded up $0.24 on Monday, reaching $37.48. The company had a trading volume of 1,224,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,697,778. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.13 and a 52-week high of $39.79. The company has a market cap of $12.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.32, a P/E/G ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.72. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.72.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Juniper Networks's dividend payout ratio is currently 115.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNPR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Monday, September 16th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Barclays lowered 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 note on Friday, November 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Juniper Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.50.

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.