Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Shares Purchased by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 83.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,884 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,138 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 60.3% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Gould Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Gould Capital LLC now owns 29,298 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,913 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its position in Juniper Networks by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 47,639 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Juniper Networks by 6.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,447 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Juniper Networks stock opened at $36.03 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.72 and a 1-year high of $39.79. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.25 and a 200-day moving average of $37.92. The company has a market capitalization of $11.93 billion, a PE ratio of 41.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.87.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 7.57% and a net margin of 5.67%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on JNPR shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Argus lowered Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.80.

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.