Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Ericsson Call Options (NASDAQ:ERIC)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Traders bought 2,675 Ericsson call options on Monday, about 74% above the stock’s typical volume of 1,540 calls.
• Analysts remain cautious: Recent brokerage actions were mixed to negative, with one downgrade to hold and a consensus rating of Reduce along with a $11.00 target price.
• Stock and ownership updates: Ericsson shares rose 3.2% to $12.27, near their 52-week high, while hedge funds and institutional investors own about 7.99% of the company.

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders bought 2,675 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 74% compared to the typical volume of 1,540 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ERIC. Wall Street Zen cut Ericsson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Argus upgraded Ericsson to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ericsson in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Ericsson in a report on Monday, February 9th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $11.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $11.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ericsson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quantitative Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Ericsson in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,349,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its holdings in Ericsson by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 43,232 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 10,955 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in Ericsson by 302.7% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 46,112 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 34,660 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ericsson in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Ericsson in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.99% of the company's stock.

Ericsson Stock Up 3.2%

NASDAQ ERIC traded up $0.39 on Monday, reaching $12.27. The company had a trading volume of 2,129,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,948,399. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.35 billion, a PE ratio of 15.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.88. Ericsson has a 1 year low of $7.16 and a 1 year high of $12.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $11.53 and a 200-day moving average of $10.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Ericsson Company Profile

Ericsson AB is a Swedish multinational telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Stockholm. Founded in 1876 by Lars Magnus Ericsson, the company designs, develops and sells infrastructure, software and services that enable mobile and fixed-line networks worldwide. Ericsson serves a global customer base that includes mobile network operators, enterprise customers and public-sector organizations across Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.

The company's core activities center on building and modernizing network infrastructure, with a particular focus on radio access networks (RAN), core network software, cloud-native solutions and network management systems.

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