Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Stock Position Lifted by Amundi

Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 60.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,157,158 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,559,884 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 1.26% of Juniper Networks worth $159,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 104,067 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,897,000 after buying an additional 35,991 shares in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 105.6% in the 4th quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 289,900 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $10,857,000 after buying an additional 148,900 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $251,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $8,216,000. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 94,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. The trade was a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of JNPR stock opened at $36.07 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.69. The company has a market capitalization of $12.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.72 and a 1-year high of $39.79.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 7.57% and a net margin of 5.67%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is 102.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Argus cut shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI raised 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 note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Juniper Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.