First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Increases Stake in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,775 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,774 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $2,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,126,775 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,212,417,000 after purchasing an additional 137,652 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Juniper Networks by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,230,251 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $390,028,000 after buying an additional 495,037 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $136,778,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Juniper Networks by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,646,833 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $107,509,000 after buying an additional 219,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,821,292 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $83,172,000 after acquiring an additional 54,735 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $1,440,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,059,660. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.17, for a total transaction of $195,369.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 981,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,509,120.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $1,440,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,059,660. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 119,779 shares of company stock valued at $4,339,795. 1.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Juniper Networks Price Performance

Shares of JNPR stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.00. 443,123 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,594,394. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.87 and a 52-week high of $39.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $12.67 billion, a PE ratio of 56.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $37.06 and a 200 day moving average of $36.48.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 8.02% and a net margin of 4.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 127.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on Juniper Networks from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Argus raised Juniper Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.25.

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.