Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Stake in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 219,397 shares of the network equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,216,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Juniper Networks at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of JNPR. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,263 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 139.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Juniper Networks by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.95% of the company's stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

JNPR opened at $34.65 on Wednesday. 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 has a market cap of $11.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.29, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.84. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.42 and a 12-month high of $39.79. The business has a 50 day moving average of $35.56 and a 200-day moving average of $36.88.

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 (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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. Juniper Networks's dividend payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased 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 note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Juniper Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded Juniper Networks from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Juniper Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the company'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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. This represents a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JNPR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.