Machina Capital S.A.S. Reduces Position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Machina Capital S.A.S. lessened its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,386 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,314 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 34,947 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 1,602 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 128.3% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 674,400 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,881,000 after purchasing an additional 379,000 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 18,100 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 278,696 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,215,000 after purchasing an additional 21,253 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,614,022 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $47,581,000 after purchasing an additional 69,711 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNPR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Juniper Networks from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Robert Mobassaly sold 5,173 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.78, for a total value of $190,262.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 36,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,326,323.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Robert Mobassaly sold 5,173 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.78, for a total value of $190,262.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 36,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,326,323.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 98,530 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total transaction of $3,645,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 73,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,726,308. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 221,856 shares of company stock worth $8,187,658 over the last 90 days. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Juniper Networks Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of JNPR traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $34.78. 1,633,759 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,770,281. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.87 and a 1-year high of $38.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $11.30 billion, a PE ratio of 50.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.76 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $36.57 and a 200 day moving average of $33.19.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 127.54%.

About Juniper Networks

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.