Aviva PLC Trims Holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Aviva PLC trimmed its holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 55.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 200,275 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 253,603 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $7,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in Juniper Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $42,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 91.9% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,263 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised 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 worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Juniper Networks by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of JNPR opened at $33.93 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.19. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.12 and a 52 week high of $39.79. The stock has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.45, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.84.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 7.57% and a net margin of 5.67%. On average, analysts expect that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 94,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,413,651.42. This represents a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNPR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded 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. Argus downgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Juniper Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.80.

Juniper Networks 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.