Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Shares Sold by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its position in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) by 73.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,012 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 167,436 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $2,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter worth $8,645,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 327.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,187 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $868,000 after purchasing an additional 17,758 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 157,338 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $5,902,000 after purchasing an additional 13,030 shares during the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in Juniper Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $5,225,000. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in Juniper Networks by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 122,669 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $4,594,000 after acquiring an additional 11,296 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.95% of the company's stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

JNPR traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $35.73. 1,723,568 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,268,680. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $35.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.78. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.42 and a 1-year high of $39.79.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 7.57% and a net margin of 5.67%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Juniper Networks's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Juniper Networks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Juniper Networks presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.00.

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.