KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New $4.46 Million Investment in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 119,069 shares of the network equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,459,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Juniper Networks by 139.5% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Juniper Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $76,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.95% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In other Juniper Networks news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total transaction of $1,115,827.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. This trade represents a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.28% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNPR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Juniper Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price 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 raised Juniper Networks from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

JNPR traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $36.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,140,769 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,296,427. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.72 and a fifty-two week high of $39.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.03 billion, a PE ratio of 41.97, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.