Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,920,000 shares, a drop of 9.4% from the October 15th total of 10,950,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Approximately 3.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Juniper Networks

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Juniper Networks by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,758,844 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $614,280,000 after buying an additional 574,418 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 4.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 14,314.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,832,105 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $176,179,000 after purchasing an additional 4,798,583 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,157,579 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $115,125,000 after purchasing an additional 114,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,957,317 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $115,276,000 after purchasing an additional 33,016 shares in the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Juniper Networks Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE JNPR traded down $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $35.49. The stock had a trading volume of 4,691,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,737,810. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $11.75 billion, a PE ratio of 46.09, a PEG ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $38.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.42. Juniper Networks has a twelve month low of $26.66 and a twelve month high of $39.79.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.79%.

About Juniper Networks

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.