Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Shares Purchased by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,726 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,292 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of JNPR. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised 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 last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 139.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total transaction of $1,115,827.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 94,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,413,651.42. The trade was a 24.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNPR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Juniper Networks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Juniper Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Five investment 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 Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE JNPR opened at $36.22 on Friday. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.72 and a 52-week high of $39.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.07 billion, a PE ratio of 42.11, 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $36.31 and a 200-day moving average of $37.43.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (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 anticipate that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 102.33%.

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.