Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

JNPR has been the topic of several other research reports. Argus lowered Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE JNPR traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $36.15. The company had a trading volume of 1,981,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,111,384. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.55 and a 200 day moving average of $37.52. Juniper Networks has a 1-year low of $33.72 and a 1-year high of $39.79.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 $3,413,651.42. This represents a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Juniper Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JNPR. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 38.6% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 27,799 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 7,745 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 964,400 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $37,592,000 after buying an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 576.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 11,084 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 9,445 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 38,488 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,500,000 after buying an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Juniper Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $875,000. 91.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.