DnB Asset Management AS Raises Stock Holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

DnB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,851 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,316 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS's holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $3,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 47.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 32.0% during the 4th 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. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNPR traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $36.08. 1,088,969 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,262,501. The firm has a market cap of $12.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. 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 1-year low of $33.72 and a 1-year high of $39.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.35.

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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 94,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. The trade was a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.