Paul Singer (Trades, Portfolio) of Elliott Management recently reduced his position in Juniper Networks, Inc. (JNPR, Financial). Singer is the founder of Elliott Management which currently manages approximately $6.8 billion in equity assets.
On July 24 Singer sold 27,519,345 shares of Juniper from his portfolio reducing his stake to 11,721,655 shares or 4.72% of his portfolio. After the sell his weighting in technology was reduced to 26.41% with his largest technology holding in EMC Corporation (EMC, Financial).
Juniper reported second quarter earnings on July 23 with mixed results. The company’s revenue was down 1% from the comparable quarter with reported GAAP net income down 29% and GAAP earnings per share down 13%. The company has struggled to gain strong market share in the industry resulting in weak revenue and sales growth projections overall. Additionally it also has a five-year average price to earnings multiple of 31.5.
While management has reported strong growth expected in security offerings in 2016 the company’s overall position in the technology market makes its business predictability low. It currently has an approximate fair value of $21.75 with a trading price of $27.48. In the near term analysts see the price trading within a wide range. Analysts currently have a median target price for the stock of $30.50 with a high target of $36 and a low target of $12.
In recent trading other investment managers have also sold significant share positions in Juniper. On June 30 Manning & Napier Advisors, Inc. sold 1,555,958 shares of Juniper from its portfolio. On June 30 Fisher Asset Management, LLC’s Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio) also reduced his holdings in the stock by 20,950 shares.
