Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Sells 101,392 Shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank trimmed its stake in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 24.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 316,557 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 101,392 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $11,855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 6.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,447 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Juniper Networks by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 446,529 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $17,406,000 after buying an additional 21,651 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 447 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Juniper Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $2,202,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 1.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 883,057 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,422,000 after acquiring an additional 11,687 shares during the period. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total value of $1,115,827.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. This represents a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

NYSE JNPR opened at $35.61 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.40, 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. As a group, research analysts expect that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 102.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on JNPR. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus downgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Juniper Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Juniper Networks has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.80.

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.