Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Shares Bought by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 525,502 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,164 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $19,943,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position 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. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 616 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,654 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNPR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Juniper Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Argus lowered shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upped 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

JNPR opened at $36.10 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.40. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.72 and a 52-week high of $39.79. The company has a market cap of $12.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.97, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. Equities analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 value 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 $3,413,651.42. This represents a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.