Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Short Interest Down 9.4% in October

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,920,000 shares, a drop of 9.4% from the October 15th total of 10,950,000 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Institutional Trading of Juniper Networks

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 14,314.7% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,832,105 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $176,179,000 after acquiring an additional 4,798,583 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $86,494,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 859.1% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 836,900 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $31,016,000 after buying an additional 749,641 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new position in Juniper Networks in the first quarter valued at $23,379,000. Finally, Twin Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 760.3% in the third quarter. Twin Securities Inc. now owns 678,257 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,438,000 after purchasing an additional 599,420 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JNPR traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $35.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,691,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,737,810. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.75 billion, a PE ratio of 46.09, a P/E/G ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.77 and a 200 day moving average of $37.42. Juniper Networks has a twelve month low of $26.66 and a twelve month high of $39.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on JNPR. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.50.

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.