Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,460,000 shares, an increase of 18.6% from the February 29th total of 11,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,130,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 4.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Juniper Networks Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:JNPR traded down $0.22 on Friday, reaching $37.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,922,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,048,051. Juniper Networks has a 1-year low of $24.87 and a 1-year high of $38.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market cap of $11.93 billion, a PE ratio of 39.01, a PEG ratio of 7.59 and a beta of 0.98. The business's 50-day moving average price is $37.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.63.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 5.57%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Juniper Networks's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.63%.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 98,530 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total value of $3,645,610.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 73,684 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,726,308. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Juniper Networks news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,556 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.29, for a total value of $162,735.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 857,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,106,977.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 98,530 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total value of $3,645,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 73,684 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,726,308. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 221,800 shares of company stock valued at $8,122,949 in the last 90 days. 1.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of JNPR. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Juniper Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in Juniper Networks by 51.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Juniper Networks by 74.1% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,071 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Juniper Networks by 92.1% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 974 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNPR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Juniper Networks from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $40.00 target price (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Juniper Networks has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $34.27.

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.