Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.50.

Several research firms have commented on JNPR. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com started coverage on Juniper Networks in a research note on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Monday, September 23rd.

Juniper Networks Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of JNPR opened at $37.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.88. Juniper Networks has a 1 year low of $29.87 and a 1 year high of $39.79. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.88.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is 115.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Juniper Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Oak Thistle LLC grew its position in Juniper Networks by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 8,015 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 1.5% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 27,941 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 7.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,791 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Juniper Networks by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 11,485 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.