Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Stock Holdings Cut by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lessened its position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 43.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,387 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 42,545 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $1,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 973 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 74.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,071 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 2,224.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,976 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter worth $74,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Juniper Networks news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.53, for a total value of $208,479.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,019,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,265,175.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Robert Mobassaly sold 5,173 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.78, for a total value of $190,262.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 36,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,326,323.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.53, for a total transaction of $208,479.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,019,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,265,175.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 216,302 shares of company stock valued at $8,005,602 over the last three months. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on JNPR shares. Morgan Stanley raised Juniper Networks from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Juniper Networks from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Juniper Networks in a report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.27.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNPR opened at $36.06 on Friday. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $24.87 and a one year high of $38.04. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $36.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $11.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 0.98.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 5.57%. Analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.63%.

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.