Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Short Interest Up 11.2% in December

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,630,000 shares, an increase of 11.2% from the December 15th total of 11,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,600,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days. Currently, 3.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Juniper Networks stock traded down $0.38 during trading on Monday, reaching $38.47. The company had a trading volume of 4,434,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,920,985. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.03. Juniper Networks has a 52 week low of $34.30 and a 52 week high of $39.79.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JNPR. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Juniper Networks by 60.3% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 71.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,546 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $61,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 84.7% during the 3rd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Juniper Networks in the 3rd quarter worth $76,000. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on JNPR shares. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

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.