Sather Financial Group Inc Acquires 42,945 Shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Sather Financial Group Inc lifted its stake in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 302,731 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,945 shares during the period. Juniper Networks accounts for approximately 0.7% of Sather Financial Group Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Sather Financial Group Inc owned about 0.09% of Juniper Networks worth $11,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 327.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,187 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $868,000 after buying an additional 17,758 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Juniper Networks by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 45,499 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,704,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Juniper Networks by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 913,047 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $34,194,000 after buying an additional 29,990 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 163.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 99,748 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,734,000 after acquiring an additional 61,815 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 41,375 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,551,000 after purchasing an additional 7,712 shares in the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Juniper Networks Stock Up 0.6 %

Juniper Networks stock opened at $36.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.72 and a 1-year high of $39.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $37.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.98.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The network equipment provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI raised Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Argus cut shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. 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 research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Juniper Networks has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.