Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Shares Bought by Water Island Capital LLC

Water Island Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 957,573 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 94,212 shares during the period. Juniper Networks comprises about 3.9% of Water Island Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Water Island Capital LLC owned 0.29% of Juniper Networks worth $35,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 37,696 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,412,000 after buying an additional 7,668 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Juniper Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $1,374,000. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,394 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 88,162 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $3,302,000 after purchasing an additional 9,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 446,529 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $17,406,000 after purchasing an additional 21,651 shares during the period. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

NYSE JNPR traded down $0.08 on Tuesday, reaching $34.70. The stock had a trading volume of 4,628,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,291,671. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.42 and a 1-year high of $39.79. 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 company has a market cap of $11.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.04.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 7.57% and a net margin of 5.67%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. Juniper Networks's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Juniper Networks

In other Juniper Networks news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,413,651.42. This trade represents a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.28% of the company's stock.

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.