Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 91.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 402,913 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 192,575 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $15,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in JNPR. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Juniper Networks by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. Gould Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Gould Capital LLC now owns 29,298 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,142,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position 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 valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of JNPR opened at $34.19 on Tuesday. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.42 and a 12-month high of $39.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 102.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNPR has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Juniper Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Barclays boosted their price target 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, Argus cut shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Juniper Networks

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. This trade represents a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.28% 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.