Alpine Associates Management Inc. Increases Position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Alpine Associates Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) by 12.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,676,064 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 301,900 shares during the quarter. Juniper Networks accounts for approximately 4.8% of Alpine Associates Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Alpine Associates Management Inc.’s holdings in Juniper Networks were worth $104,313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Juniper Networks by 2,069.4% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 781 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Juniper Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in Juniper Networks in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Juniper Networks by 60.3% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in Juniper Networks by 71.4% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,546 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. 91.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JNPR opened at $35.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $38.71 and a 200 day moving average of $37.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 0.93. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.66 and a 12-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. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. Juniper Networks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JNPR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Juniper Networks has an average 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.