BofA Global Research upgraded JNPR to "buy" from "underperform"
The shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) are up 2.3% to trade at $35.29 at last check, after earning a double upgrade from BofA Global Research to "buy" from "underperform." The firm also hit Juniper Networks stock with a lofty price-target hike to $40 from $22, noting the data network industry's potential for growth amid investments, digital transformation, migration to cloud, and supply chain improvements over the next couple of years.
In response, JNPR earlier surged to an 11-year high of $36.02, bouncing off the $34 mark. The security has been charging higher since early November, with support from the 40-day moving average. Year-over-year, the shares sport a 47.8% lead.
The brokerage bunch was split towards the equity coming into today, leaving plenty of room for additional upgrades and/or price-target hikes going forward. Of the 11 analysts in coverage, six call JNPR tepid "hold" or worse, while five say "buy" or better. Plus, the 12-month consensus target price of $31.06 is a 11.6% discount to current levels.
Drilling down to today's options activity, 2,412 calls have already crossed the tape, which is six times what is normally seen at this point. Most popular is the weekly 1/14 37-strike call, followed by the 36-strike call in the same series, with new positions being opened at both.
Now looks like a good time to weigh in on the security's next move with options, given Juniper Network stock is seeing attractively priced premiums at the moment. This is per the equity's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 25%, which stands in the 18th percentile of its annual range.