I'm not an expert on Junipers, but brown tips means it's loosing moisture. This could be a result of the summer sun or it could also be a problem with the roots, such as root rot sue to over watering (hopefully following comments can clarify!).
A picture of the bugs you found would be helpful. If they were profuse, I would start looking at insecticide options. But if they just hitched a ride or jumped on it temporarily, they shouldn't be anything to worry about.
You'd want to prune anything growing outside of the style you want, such as crossing branches, branches growing down, etc. The inside of the canopy needs air and light too, so if branches are growing down or crossing, it could limit that. I'm not exactly sure how to promote growth on a juniper, but correct pruning in its nature stimulates growth. Hope that helps!

Jason

if i find anymore of those bugs ill be sure to snap a picture of them. i dont think its root rot because the soil drains wonderfully when i water it. its been hot and very sunny lately here so that could be the explanation. thanks so much for the help Jason.