Short Interest in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Drops By 12.2%

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,760,000 shares, a decrease of 12.2% from the January 15th total of 11,120,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,470,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Juniper Networks Price Performance

Juniper Networks stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $35.99. 3,080,325 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,621,597. The stock's fifty day moving average is $37.22 and its 200-day moving average is $37.90. Juniper Networks has a 12 month low of $33.72 and a 12 month high of $39.79. The stock has a market cap of $11.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.84, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.87. 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 (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

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Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. Juniper Networks's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on JNPR. StockNews.com raised Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Argus lowered Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI raised 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. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Juniper Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNPR. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $262,618,000. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 12,752,814 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $477,593,000 after buying an additional 2,167,567 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,157,158 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $159,510,000 after buying an additional 1,559,884 shares during the period. Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,413,000. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 70.1% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 2,811,005 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $105,272,000 after buying an additional 1,158,713 shares during the period. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.