AlphaQuest LLC Decreases Stake in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

AlphaQuest LLC reduced its holdings in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 83.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,872 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 9,212 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $70,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Juniper Networks by 8.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 55,936 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 4,143 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Juniper Networks by 38.6% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 27,799 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 7,745 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Juniper Networks by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 964,400 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $37,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in Juniper Networks by 576.3% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 11,084 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 9,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its position in Juniper Networks by 2.9% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 38,488 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total value of $1,115,827.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 94,771 shares in the company, valued at $3,413,651.42. The trade was a 24.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.28% of the company’s stock.

Juniper Networks Price Performance

Shares of JNPR opened at $36.10 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.53. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.72 and a 1-year high of $39.79. The stock has a market cap of $12.03 billion, a PE ratio of 41.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.86.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. As a group, analysts forecast that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is 102.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on JNPR. StockNews.com cut shares of Juniper Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Argus cut shares of Juniper Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Juniper Networks from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.80.

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.