Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,264,855 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 599,214 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 13.07% of Juniper Networks worth $1,620,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of JNPR. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $42,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position 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 valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $76,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Juniper Networks Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:JNPR traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $36.14. 1,815,982 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,289,509. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $36.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.04 billion, a PE ratio of 42.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $33.72 and a one year high of $39.79.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks's payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the business's 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 in the company, valued at $3,413,651.42. The trade was a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JNPR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus lowered shares of Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered Juniper Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.80.

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.