Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,290,000 shares, a decrease of 15.1% from the February 28th total of 8,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,820,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 2.2% of the company's shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on JNPR. Evercore ISI upgraded 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. Argus lowered Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Juniper Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target 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 and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.80.

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Insider Activity

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 94,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. This represents a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Juniper Networks

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in JNPR. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 363 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Juniper Networks by 30.1% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,224 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Juniper Networks by 91.9% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,263 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Juniper Networks by 139.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.95% of the company's stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE JNPR traded down $0.06 on Wednesday, reaching $36.08. The stock had a trading volume of 1,088,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,262,501. Juniper Networks has a 1 year low of $33.72 and a 1 year high of $39.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $12.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86.

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 the consensus estimate 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, analysts forecast that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

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

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.