Short Interest in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Expands By 24.6%

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,080,000 shares, an increase of 24.6% from the March 15th total of 7,290,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,930,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 2.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Juniper Networks Trading Up 2.0 %

Juniper Networks stock traded up $0.71 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $35.34. 2,604,609 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,268,532. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $35.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.88. The company has a market capitalization of $11.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.09, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.84. Juniper Networks has a 52-week low of $33.42 and a 52-week high of $39.79.

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

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Juniper Networks's dividend payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages 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 on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus lowered shares of Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered Juniper Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.80.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total transaction of $1,115,827.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 94,771 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,224 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Juniper Networks by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,413 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Juniper Networks by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 7.0% during the first quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,795 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 6,182 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 426 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.