LGT Group Foundation Sells 12,111 Shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

LGT Group Foundation cut its stake in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 63.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,000 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 12,111 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of JNPR. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 11,418.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,829,071 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $83,401,000 after purchasing an additional 2,804,509 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 276.7% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,257,447 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,944,000 after acquiring an additional 923,680 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Juniper Networks in the third quarter worth $20,615,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in Juniper Networks by 487.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 845,795 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $23,505,000 after purchasing an additional 701,856 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 215.3% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 969,705 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,948,000 after purchasing an additional 662,172 shares during the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of JNPR stock opened at $34.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.32 billion, a PE ratio of 50.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.98. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.87 and a 52-week high of $38.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $36.57 and its 200 day moving average is $33.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.74.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 4.19% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is presently 127.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on JNPR. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Juniper Networks from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays upped their price target on Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Juniper Networks from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.86, for a total value of $193,647.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,764 shares in the company, valued at $34,398,593.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Rami Rahim sold 5,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.86, for a total value of $193,647.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 986,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,398,593.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 98,530 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total transaction of $3,645,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 73,684 shares in the company, valued at $2,726,308. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 227,412 shares of company stock valued at $8,392,730 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

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.