Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR)

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 15,185 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 88% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,098 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on JNPR. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Juniper Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note 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 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Juniper Networks has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Juniper Networks news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total value of $1,115,827.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 94,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. The trade was a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 47.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,263 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 139.5% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 84.7% in the third quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Juniper Networks Price Performance

NYSE JNPR opened at $36.00 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Juniper Networks has a 12-month low of $33.72 and a 12-month high of $39.79. The company has a market capitalization of $11.99 billion, a PE ratio of 41.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $36.64 and its 200-day moving average is $37.54.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is 102.33%.

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.