Aviva PLC Boosts Position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Aviva PLC increased its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR – Get Rating) by 55.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 406,962 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 144,926 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.13% of Juniper Networks worth $22,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNPR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 0.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,825,465 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,014,120,000 after purchasing an additional 338,839 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,561,492 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $380,346,000 after acquiring an additional 93,536 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 6.0% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 11,427,573 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $298,488,000 after acquiring an additional 649,160 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 2.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,775,661 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $177,471,000 after acquiring an additional 123,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Juniper Networks by 11.1% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,980,313 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $84,939,000 after buying an additional 297,322 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.22% of the company’s stock.

Juniper Networks Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Juniper Networks stock opened at $29.73 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.46. The firm has a market cap of $9.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.18 and a fifty-two week high of $34.53.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 31st. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.52%.

Insider Transactions at Juniper Networks

In related news, Director Anne Delsanto sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.75, for a total transaction of $27,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $819,057. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Juniper Networks news, Director Anne Delsanto sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.75, for a total value of $27,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $819,057. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rami Rahim sold 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.28, for a total value of $195,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 937,089 shares in the company, valued at $29,312,143.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,700 shares of company stock valued at $847,251 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on JNPR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Juniper Networks in a research note on Monday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on Juniper Networks from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Juniper Networks in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Juniper Networks from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Juniper Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.87.

Juniper Networks Profile

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Juniper Networks, Inc engages in the business of designing, developing, and selling products and services for high-performance networks to enable customers to build networks for their businesses while achieving agility and improved operating efficiency through automation. The firm also offers routing, switching, Wi-Fi, network security, artificial intelligence-enabled enterprise networking operations, and software-defined networking technologies.