Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Short Interest Down 6.2% in March

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,620,000 shares, a drop of 6.2% from the March 15th total of 13,460,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Approximately 3.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Juniper Networks stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $36.43. The company had a trading volume of 2,346,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,031,727. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.32. The stock has a market cap of $11.82 billion, a PE ratio of 38.45, a P/E/G ratio of 7.51 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.35. Juniper Networks has a 1-year low of $24.87 and a 1-year high of $38.04.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.01). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 5.57%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Juniper Networks will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on JNPR shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up from $35.00) on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 11th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 98,530 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total value of $3,645,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 73,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,726,308. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,556 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.10, for a total value of $206,127.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 829,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,770,962.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 98,530 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total transaction of $3,645,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 73,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,726,308. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 216,302 shares of company stock valued at $8,005,602 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in JNPR. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 8.7% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 31,014 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,476 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. bought a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the first quarter valued at $1,036,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 23.0% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 88,358 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,283,000 after acquiring an additional 16,513 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 6.6% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 43,510 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after buying an additional 2,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the first quarter valued at about $3,756,000. 91.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.