Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Makes New $2.71 Million Investment in Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 349,298 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,711,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ericsson by 275.3% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 48,892 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 35,863 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Ericsson by 55.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,795,967 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $14,475,000 after purchasing an additional 638,393 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Ericsson by 370.6% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 50,651 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 39,889 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ericsson by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,771,321 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $14,277,000 after purchasing an additional 519,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ericsson by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 252,164 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,032,000 after purchasing an additional 32,982 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Ericsson Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ERIC traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $8.34. The stock had a trading volume of 13,382,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,400,587. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.13. Ericsson has a twelve month low of $5.84 and a twelve month high of $9.00. The firm has a market cap of $27.91 billion, a PE ratio of 166.70, a PEG ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 0.94.

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.03. Ericsson had a return on equity of 16.45% and a net margin of 0.67%. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.83 billion. Research analysts predict that Ericsson will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.