Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Price Target Raised to $39.00 at Barclays

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) had its price objective lifted by Barclays from $37.00 to $39.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the network equipment provider’s stock.

JNPR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Juniper Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNPR opened at $36.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.94 billion, a PE ratio of 47.46, a PEG ratio of 7.70 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $37.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.01. Juniper Networks has a twelve month low of $33.72 and a twelve month high of $39.79.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 7.41% and a net margin of 4.97%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in JNPR. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,394 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,926,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Juniper Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,065,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 68,439 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,563,000 after purchasing an additional 18,306 shares in the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.