Oak Thistle LLC Invests $1.93 Million in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 65,554 shares of the network equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,933,000. Juniper Networks makes up about 0.6% of Oak Thistle LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 74.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,071 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Juniper Networks by 92.1% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 974 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Tower Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $57,000. Institutional investors own 91.95% of the company's stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

JNPR traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $37.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,408,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,353,848. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.87 and a twelve month high of $38.04. The stock has a market cap of $11.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.00, a PEG ratio of 7.59 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 5.57%. Research analysts expect that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. Juniper Networks's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.63%.

Insider Transactions at Juniper Networks

In related news, SVP Robert Mobassaly sold 5,173 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.78, for a total value of $190,262.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 36,061 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,326,323.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Robert Mobassaly sold 5,173 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.78, for a total value of $190,262.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 36,061 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,326,323.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.53, for a total value of $208,479.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,019,589 shares in the company, valued at $38,265,175.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 221,800 shares of company stock valued at $8,122,949. 1.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $34.27.

Juniper Networks 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.