Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Short Interest Up 11.2% in December

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,630,000 shares, an increase of 11.2% from the December 15th total of 11,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,600,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days. Approximately 3.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 14,314.7% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,832,105 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $176,179,000 after purchasing an additional 4,798,583 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,337,000. Twin Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 760.3% during the third quarter. Twin Securities Inc. now owns 678,257 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $26,438,000 after purchasing an additional 599,420 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Juniper Networks by 3.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,758,844 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $614,280,000 after purchasing an additional 574,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in Juniper Networks by 172,681.3% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 552,900 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $21,552,000 after purchasing an additional 552,580 shares in the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:JNPR traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $38.47. 4,434,123 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,920,985. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $37.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.03. Juniper Networks has a fifty-two week low of $34.30 and a fifty-two week high of $39.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $12.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.61, a P/E/G ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.88.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Juniper Networks's payout ratio is 115.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Juniper Networks has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.25.

Juniper Networks Company 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.