Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Buys 1,015 Shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 18,474 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oak Thistle LLC boosted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 8,015 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,576 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 1.5% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 27,941 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 8.9% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,903 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keene & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 11,485 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:JNPR opened at $38.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $12.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.20, a P/E/G ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.93. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.87 and a 12 month high of $39.13. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $38.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.76.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 4.58% and a return on equity of 8.02%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Juniper Networks’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is currently 127.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 40,000 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $1,440,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,435 shares in the company, valued at $1,059,660. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 108,669 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,279 over the last 90 days. 1.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Argus raised Juniper Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.25.

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.