ABC Arbitrage SA Invests $24.15 Million in Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC)

Key Points

• ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a significant stake in Ericsson, purchasing 3,111,626 shares worth approximately $24.15 million, making it the firm's largest holding at around 4.5% of their portfolio.
• Ericsson's stock price opened at $7.39 with a market capitalization of $24.74 billion and a P/E ratio of 14.78; the company reported earnings that slightly exceeded expectations but showed a 6.2% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• Wall Street analysts have upgraded Ericsson's rating, with JPMorgan Chase raising its price target from $8.90 to $9.80 and upgrading its stance to "neutral."

ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,111,626 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $24,146,000. Ericsson accounts for about 4.5% of ABC Arbitrage SA's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. ABC Arbitrage SA owned 0.09% of Ericsson as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ERIC. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in Ericsson in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in Ericsson in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ericsson in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ericsson in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ericsson in the 1st quarter valued at $90,000. 7.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ericsson Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ERIC traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $7.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,315,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,736,444. The firm has a market cap of $25.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $8.01 and a 200-day moving average of $8.04. Ericsson has a 12 month low of $6.64 and a 12 month high of $8.99.

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.54 billion. Ericsson had a return on equity of 21.17% and a net margin of 7.06%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($3.34) EPS. Research analysts expect that Ericsson will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ERIC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ericsson from $8.90 to $9.80 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Ericsson from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ericsson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th.

About Ericsson

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ), together with its subsidiaries, provides mobile connectivity solutions for telcom operators and enterprise customers in various sectors in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, North East Asia, South East Asia, Oceania, and India. It operates in four segments: Networks; Cloud Software and Services; Enterprise; and Other.