Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Short Interest Update

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,360,000 shares, a growth of 23.6% from the November 30th total of 9,190,000 shares. Approximately 3.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,870,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on JNPR shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Juniper Networks in a research report on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JNPR. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 2,069.4% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 781 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 60.3% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in Juniper Networks by 71.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,546 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Juniper Networks in the third quarter valued at $61,000. 91.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Juniper Networks Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of JNPR traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $37.37. The stock had a trading volume of 421,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,645,298. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.80. The company has a market cap of $12.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.17, a PEG ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.89. Juniper Networks has a 1-year low of $29.13 and a 1-year high of $39.79.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.79%.

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.