Machina Capital S.A.S. Sells 31,579 Shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Machina Capital S.A.S. trimmed its position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) by 42.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,334 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 31,579 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.'s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $1,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,337,000. Twin Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 760.3% during the third quarter. Twin Securities Inc. now owns 678,257 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $26,438,000 after buying an additional 599,420 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,758,844 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $614,280,000 after acquiring an additional 574,418 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Juniper Networks by 172,681.3% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 552,900 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $21,552,000 after acquiring an additional 552,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in Juniper Networks by 1,885.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 497,430 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $19,390,000 after purchasing an additional 472,370 shares in the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. 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 note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Juniper Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Juniper Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Trading Up 0.2 %

JNPR traded up $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $35.61. 2,745,614 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,191,774. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock's 50-day moving average is $36.85 and its 200 day moving average is $37.65. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.72 and a 12 month high of $39.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.86 billion, a PE ratio of 41.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 7.57% and a net margin of 5.67%. Equities analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Juniper Networks's payout ratio is presently 102.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 94,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,413,651.42. This represents a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Juniper Networks 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.