Juniper Networks Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:JNPR)

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 15,185 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 88% compared to the typical volume of 8,098 call options.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In other Juniper Networks news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 94,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. This represents a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of JNPR. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 55,936 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $2,180,000 after acquiring an additional 4,143 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 27,799 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 7,745 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 964,400 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $37,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 576.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 11,084 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 9,445 shares during the period. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 38,488 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the period. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on JNPR. Evercore ISI raised shares of Juniper Networks from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus downgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE JNPR traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $36.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,074,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,121,527. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $36.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.50. Juniper Networks has a twelve month low of $33.72 and a twelve month high of $39.79. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $12.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.94, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks's payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

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.