Primecap Management Co. CA Reduces Holdings in Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC)

Key Points

• Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its holdings in Ericsson by 1.0%, selling 456,800 shares, and now owns approximately 45.8 million shares valued at $355.5 million.
• Recent analyst ratings for Ericsson include upgrades from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Kepler Capital Markets, with price targets moving from $8.90 to $9.80.
• Ericsson reported a net revenue decrease of 6.2% year-over-year, alongside an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.14, beating analysts' expectations of $0.12.

Primecap Management Co. CA lowered its position in Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC - Free Report) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 45,813,999 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 456,800 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned about 1.37% of Ericsson worth $355,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Ericsson by 401.1% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 13,607,012 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $109,673,000 after purchasing an additional 10,891,451 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ericsson by 234.6% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,744,940 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $54,364,000 after purchasing an additional 4,729,207 shares in the last quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ericsson by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 6,382,140 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $51,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,427,386 shares in the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in shares of Ericsson during the first quarter worth about $24,146,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of Ericsson by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,463,200 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $19,853,000 after purchasing an additional 431,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.99% of the company's stock.

Ericsson Price Performance

NASDAQ ERIC traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $7.51. 6,315,158 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,736,444. Ericsson has a 52-week low of $6.64 and a 52-week high of $8.99. The company has a market capitalization of $25.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm's 50-day moving average is $8.01 and its 200-day moving average is $8.04.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. Ericsson had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 21.17%. The company had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($3.34) EPS. Ericsson's revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Ericsson will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.