Renaissance Technologies LLC Lowers Position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its stake in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) by 60.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 341,191 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 526,218 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.10% of Juniper Networks worth $12,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 47.8% in the 4th 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 period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,913 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $184,000 after buying an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Juniper Networks by 91.9% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,263 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Juniper Networks by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Juniper Networks by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,654 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on JNPR shares. Argus lowered Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Juniper Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Barclays raised their price objective 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, Evercore ISI upgraded 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Juniper Networks stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $34.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,727,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,278,263. The company has a market cap of $11.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.93, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.84. The firm's 50-day moving average is $35.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.96. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.42 and a 52-week high of $39.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

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%. On average, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. Juniper Networks's payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 94,771 shares in the company, valued at $3,413,651.42. This represents a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.28% of the company's stock.

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.