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

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.50.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Juniper Networks

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in JNPR. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Juniper Networks by 2,069.4% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 781 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 745 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Juniper Networks by 60.3% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Juniper Networks by 71.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,546 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Juniper Networks in the third quarter worth about $61,000. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of JNPR opened at $38.33 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.90. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $12.69 billion, a PE ratio of 50.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.88. Juniper Networks has a one year low of $34.30 and a one year high of $39.79.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is 115.79%.

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.