Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR)

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 7,826 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 778% compared to the typical volume of 891 put options.

Juniper Networks Trading Down 3.4 %

NYSE:JNPR traded down $1.24 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $35.27. The stock had a trading volume of 8,794,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,711,269. Juniper Networks has a one year low of $26.66 and a one year high of $39.79. The company has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.04, a PEG ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $38.83 and a 200 day moving average of $37.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Juniper Networks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JNPR. Gould Capital LLC lifted its stake in Juniper Networks by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Gould Capital LLC now owns 29,298 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Juniper Networks by 4.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,540,330 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $371,269,000 after purchasing an additional 417,050 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 7.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,015 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Juniper Networks by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 98,992 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,859,000 after purchasing an additional 10,008 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 11,066 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 921 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Juniper Networks in a report on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Juniper Networks has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.50.

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.