Ethic Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Ethic Inc. lowered its holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 46,820 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,716 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $1,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JNPR. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 47.8% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 91.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position 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 valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Juniper Networks by 41.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Juniper Networks Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of JNPR stock opened at $36.58 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.53, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.82. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.42 and a fifty-two week high of $39.79.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.81%.

Insider Transactions at Juniper Networks

In other news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on JNPR shares. Argus lowered shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upped their price target on Juniper Networks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. StockNews.com raised Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

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.