AlphaQuest LLC Trims Stock Position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

AlphaQuest LLC lessened its stake in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 83.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,872 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 9,212 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $70,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 139.5% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 84.7% during the 3rd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $76,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,654 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of JNPR opened at $36.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s fifty day moving average is $36.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.53. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.72 and a 1 year high of $39.79.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.33%.

Insider Transactions at Juniper Networks

In other news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,413,651.42. This represents a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNPR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus cut shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Juniper Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Company 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.