Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) Shares Sold by LPL Financial LLC

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC reduced its stake in Ericsson by 8.5%, holding 552,199 shares worth approximately $4.29 million after selling 51,483 shares in the first quarter.
• Multiple hedge funds increased their investments in Ericsson, with Millennium Management LLC leading the way by raising its holdings by 234.6% during the previous quarter.
• Analysts upgraded Ericsson from a "buy" to a "strong-buy" rating, indicating positive market sentiment towards the company's stock.

LPL Financial LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC - Free Report) by 8.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 552,199 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 51,483 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Ericsson were worth $4,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ERIC. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ericsson by 234.6% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,744,940 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $54,364,000 after purchasing an additional 4,729,207 shares during the period. DigitalBridge Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ericsson by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 6,382,140 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $51,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,427,386 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of Ericsson by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,463,200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $19,853,000 after purchasing an additional 431,300 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ericsson by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 2,257,459 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $18,195,000 after purchasing an additional 383,463 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ericsson by 41.4% in the fourth 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 period. 7.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised Ericsson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th.

Ericsson Stock Down 0.4%

Ericsson stock opened at $7.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 0.85. Ericsson has a 52 week low of $6.64 and a 52 week high of $8.99. The business's 50-day moving average price is $7.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.54 billion. Ericsson had a return on equity of 21.17% and a net margin of 7.06%. Ericsson's revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($3.34) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ericsson will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Ericsson Company Profile

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.

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