Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Price Target Increased to $41.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) had its price objective increased by Barclays from $40.00 to $41.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the network equipment provider's stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on JNPR. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Juniper Networks from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Juniper Networks from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a sector weight rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Eleven equities research 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 currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $34.55.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Juniper Networks stock traded down $0.24 on Friday, reaching $34.71. The stock had a trading volume of 4,265,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,935,096. The business's 50-day moving average price is $36.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.80. Juniper Networks has a fifty-two week low of $24.87 and a fifty-two week high of $38.04. The stock has a market cap of $11.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 0.98.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.01). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 5.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Juniper Networks will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Juniper Networks's dividend payout ratio is presently 92.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,556 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $205,071.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 840,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,023,519.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 98,530 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total transaction of $3,645,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 73,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,726,308. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,556 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $205,071.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 840,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,023,519.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 216,302 shares of company stock worth $8,005,602. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Juniper Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in Juniper Networks by 51.3% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 973 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Juniper Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Juniper Networks by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in Juniper Networks by 90.9% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.