StockNews.com Upgrades Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) to “Strong-Buy”

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

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus cut Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.80.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of JNPR traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $36.15. 1,981,085 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,111,384. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.04 billion, a PE ratio of 42.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86. Juniper Networks has a 52-week low of $33.72 and a 52-week high of $39.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Juniper Networks will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Juniper Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew 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 valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 91.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 139.5% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Juniper Networks by 84.7% in the 3rd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.