Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) Shares Sold by US Bancorp DE

Key Points

• US Bancorp DE reduced its stake in Ericsson by 10.1% in the first quarter, now holding 870,751 shares valued at approximately $6.76 million.
• Ericsson's stock is currently priced at $7.38, with a market cap of $24.71 billion, and has seen a slight decrease of 0.1% during mid-day trading.
• Several analysts upgraded their ratings on Ericsson, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. raising the price target from $8.90 to $9.80 while maintaining a "neutral" rating.

US Bancorp DE decreased its holdings in Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC - Free Report) by 10.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 870,751 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 97,708 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE's holdings in Ericsson were worth $6,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ERIC. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Ericsson by 401.1% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 13,607,012 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $109,673,000 after acquiring an additional 10,891,451 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ericsson by 234.6% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,744,940 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $54,364,000 after acquiring an additional 4,729,207 shares in the last quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ericsson by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 6,382,140 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $51,440,000 after buying an additional 1,427,386 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Ericsson by 176.7% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,328,099 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $10,704,000 after purchasing an additional 848,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ericsson by 196.0% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,177,361 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $9,490,000 after buying an additional 779,639 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on ERIC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ericsson from $8.90 to $9.80 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Ericsson from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets raised Ericsson from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th.

Ericsson Stock Up 0.6%

ERIC stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $7.55. 4,223,077 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,725,910. Ericsson has a fifty-two week low of $6.64 and a fifty-two week high of $8.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $8.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.05. The stock has a market cap of $25.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a P/E/G ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.85.

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