Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Price Target Raised to $40.00

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) had its price target raised by Barclays from $39.00 to $40.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the network equipment provider's stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com upgraded Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Juniper Networks from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Argus cut Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.00.

Juniper Networks Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:JNPR traded up $0.03 on Monday, reaching $36.33. 1,919,978 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,239,271. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.82. Juniper Networks has a 1-year low of $33.42 and a 1-year high of $39.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company's 50 day moving average is $35.57 and its 200-day moving average is $36.64.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 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 business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors 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 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Juniper Networks's payout ratio is currently 83.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 owns 94,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. This trade represents a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Juniper Networks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 29.8% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,333,162 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $120,627,000 after acquiring an additional 764,333 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Juniper Networks by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,362 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $108,511,000 after purchasing an additional 13,818 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new position in Juniper Networks during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,081,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the first quarter valued at about $401,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG lifted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 468.0% in the first quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 85,203 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $3,078,000 after buying an additional 70,203 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.95% 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.