Vestcor Inc Sells 3,011 Shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Vestcor Inc decreased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 183,394 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,011 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc owned 0.06% of Juniper Networks worth $6,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in JNPR. Amundi boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,157,158 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $159,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,559,884 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in Juniper Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $25,337,000. Twin Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 760.3% in the third quarter. Twin Securities Inc. now owns 678,257 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $26,438,000 after acquiring an additional 599,420 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 3.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,758,844 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $614,280,000 after acquiring an additional 574,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 172,681.3% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 552,900 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $21,552,000 after acquiring an additional 552,580 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of JNPR opened at $35.61 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $11.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.40, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $36.81 and a 200 day moving average of $37.63. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.72 and a 12 month high of $39.79.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 EPS 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Juniper Networks news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,413,651.42. This trade represents a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on JNPR shares. Barclays increased 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. Evercore ISI raised 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. StockNews.com downgraded Juniper Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Argus downgraded Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.80.

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.