Juniper Networks Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:JNPR)

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 15,185 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 88% compared to the average daily volume of 8,098 call options.

Insider Transactions at Juniper Networks

In other news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total transaction of $1,115,827.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. This represents a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Juniper Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JNPR. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in Juniper Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Juniper Networks by 47.8% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its position in Juniper Networks by 91.9% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,263 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Juniper Networks by 139.5% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in Juniper Networks by 84.7% during the 3rd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Stock Up 0.2 %

JNPR traded up $0.07 during trading on Thursday, hitting $36.15. The stock had a trading volume of 950,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,104,383. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.53. The company has a market capitalization of $12.04 billion, a PE ratio of 42.01, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. Juniper Networks has a twelve month low of $33.72 and a twelve month high of $39.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.46.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last issued its earnings results 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 102.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNPR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Argus lowered shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.80.

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.