Short Interest in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Declines By 29.5%

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 8,590,000 shares, a drop of 29.5% from the February 13th total of 12,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Juniper Networks Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of JNPR stock traded up $0.36 on Monday, hitting $36.12. 7,409,363 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,096,391. 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 capitalization of $12.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. Juniper Networks has a fifty-two week low of $33.72 and a fifty-two week high of $39.79. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.69 and a 200 day moving average of $37.56.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. Equities analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is 102.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $1,115,827.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. This trade represents a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $262,618,000. FIL Ltd boosted its position in Juniper Networks by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 12,752,814 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $477,593,000 after purchasing an additional 2,167,567 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Juniper Networks by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,157,158 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $159,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559,884 shares in the last quarter. Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $43,413,000. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Juniper Networks by 70.1% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 2,811,005 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $105,272,000 after buying an additional 1,158,713 shares during the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.