83,598 Shares in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Acquired by Generali Asset Management SPA SGR

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 83,598 shares of the network equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,131,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 47.8% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $67,000 after buying an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in Juniper Networks by 84.7% during the third quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Juniper Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 91.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Juniper Networks Price Performance

NYSE JNPR traded up $0.05 on Monday, hitting $36.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,880,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,115,834. 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 company's fifty day moving average price is $36.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.48. The company has a market capitalization of $12.03 billion, a PE ratio of 41.98, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.72 and a 12-month high of $39.79.

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Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 EPS 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, analysts predict that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks's dividend payout ratio is presently 102.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total value of $1,115,827.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. This trade represents a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on JNPR. StockNews.com upgraded Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised shares of Juniper Networks from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus cut shares of Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Juniper Networks currently has a consensus 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.