Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) in a note issued to investors on Saturday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the network equipment provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on JNPR. Argus raised Juniper Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Juniper Networks from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.25.

Juniper Networks Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:JNPR opened at $38.88 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.95. Juniper Networks has a one year low of $24.87 and a one year high of $39.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.69. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.60.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last announced its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. Juniper Networks had a net margin of 4.58% and a return on equity of 8.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Juniper Networks will post 1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In other Juniper Networks news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.49, for a total value of $197,146.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 970,099 shares in the company, valued at $34,428,813.51. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.49, for a total transaction of $197,146.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 970,099 shares in the company, valued at $34,428,813.51. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total transaction of $1,460,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 124,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,554,324. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 119,779 shares of company stock worth $4,339,795 in the last ninety days. 1.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 95.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 50,131 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,828,000 after buying an additional 24,510 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position in Juniper Networks by 71.4% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,546 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,791 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,789 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 2,276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 203,828 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $7,432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

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.