CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Lowers Position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co cut its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 259,094 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 22,101 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned approximately 0.08% of Juniper Networks worth $9,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in JNPR. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Juniper Networks by 47.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Juniper Networks by 91.9% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,263 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position 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 worth $67,000 after buying an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $78,000 after buying an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.95% of the company's stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

NYSE JNPR traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $35.56. 981,602 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,231,940. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.35, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.84. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.42 and a 12-month high of $39.79. The business has a 50 day moving average of $35.50 and a 200-day moving average of $36.80.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 EPS 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.33%.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In other Juniper Networks news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of Juniper Networks 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 94,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,413,651.42. The trade was a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on JNPR. Barclays boosted their price objective on 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 shares of Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Juniper Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.