Hsbc Holdings PLC Boosts Stake in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 42.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,542,905 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 753,479 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.77% of Juniper Networks worth $95,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of JNPR. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in Juniper Networks during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,263 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 139.5% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 616 shares during the period. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:JNPR opened at $35.34 on Thursday. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.42 and a 12-month high of $39.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a PE ratio of 41.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.87.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 102.33%.

Insider Transactions at Juniper Networks

In other Juniper Networks news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total transaction of $1,115,827.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. This represents a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Juniper Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.