Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Rating Lowered to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on JNPR. Barclays increased their price objective on Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of JNPR stock opened at $36.10 on Friday. Juniper Networks has a 12 month low of $33.72 and a 12 month high of $39.79. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.41. The firm has a market cap of $12.03 billion, a PE ratio of 41.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. 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 (NYSE:JNPR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 7.57% and a net margin of 5.67%. Equities research analysts expect that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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. This represents a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Juniper Networks

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Juniper Networks by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in Juniper Networks by 91.9% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,263 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 139.5% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Juniper Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $76,000. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.