Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Stake Increased by Silphium Asset Management Ltd

Silphium Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) by 50.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 750,000 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 250,000 shares during the period. Juniper Networks accounts for 9.3% of Silphium Asset Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Silphium Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.23% of Juniper Networks worth $28,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of JNPR. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the third quarter valued at about $25,337,000. Twin Securities Inc. grew its stake in Juniper Networks by 760.3% during the third quarter. Twin Securities Inc. now owns 678,257 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $26,438,000 after acquiring an additional 599,420 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Juniper Networks by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,758,844 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $614,280,000 after acquiring an additional 574,418 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 172,681.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 552,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted 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 valued at $19,390,000 after purchasing an additional 472,370 shares during the period. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNPR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 report on Monday. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:JNPR traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $36.08. 1,541,689 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,182,605. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.72 and a 12-month high of $39.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.95, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.87.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks's dividend payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

Insider Transactions at Juniper Networks

In other 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.28% of the company's stock.

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.