Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Receives $36.25 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $36.25.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Juniper Networks from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Saturday, August 31st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Argus raised shares of Juniper Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Juniper Networks news, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 28,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.53, for a total value of $1,047,278.57. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 56,107 shares in the company, valued at $2,049,588.71. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 108,669 shares of company stock worth $3,947,279 in the last 90 days. 1.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNPR. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Juniper Networks by 2,069.4% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 781 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Juniper Networks in the second quarter worth $31,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks in the second quarter valued at $36,000. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of JNPR opened at $38.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.55 billion, a PE ratio of 55.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Juniper Networks has a one year low of $24.87 and a one year high of $39.06. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.65.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 8.02% and a net margin of 4.58%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Juniper Networks will post 1 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is presently 127.54%.

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.