Juniper Networks Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:JNPR)

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 16,520 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 152% compared to the average daily volume of 6,561 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNPR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Juniper Networks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Argus downgraded Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Juniper Networks from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Five investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JNPR. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 63,329 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,292,000 after buying an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Juniper Networks by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,224 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 1.8% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,915 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $612,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,413 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Juniper Networks by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 11,140 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. 91.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE JNPR traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $35.87. 1,769,758 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,248,988. Juniper Networks has a 52 week low of $33.42 and a 52 week high of $39.79. The stock has a market cap of $11.99 billion, a PE ratio of 41.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.32.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Juniper Networks's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.81%.

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.