Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Raises Stock Holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. grew its holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) by 211.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 735,538 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 499,000 shares during the period. Juniper Networks makes up about 11.7% of Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. owned about 0.22% of Juniper Networks worth $27,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 616 shares during the period. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In other Juniper Networks news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNPR traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $36.37. 1,925,195 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,225,976. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.55 and a 200 day moving average of $36.69. 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 $12.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.82. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.02. Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Juniper Networks's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNPR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Juniper Networks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Argus cut Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Juniper Networks from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Juniper Networks has a consensus 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.