Quantitative Investment Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in Ericsson $ERIC

Quantitative Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 163,228 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,349,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Ericsson by 42.9% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,350,029 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,408,000 after buying an additional 1,005,398 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ericsson in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $17,461,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ericsson by 197.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,242,381 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $10,534,000 after acquiring an additional 824,287 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Ericsson by 434.3% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 380,372 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,146,000 after acquiring an additional 309,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Ericsson during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,735,000. 7.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ericsson Price Performance

Shares of ERIC opened at $11.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $10.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.61. Ericsson has a 1-year low of $6.64 and a 1-year high of $11.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.93.

Ericsson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were given a dividend of $0.1663 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. Ericsson’s payout ratio is currently 22.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ERIC. Argus upgraded shares of Ericsson to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Ericsson in a report on Monday, February 9th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $11.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Ericsson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ericsson in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ericsson in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ericsson currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $10.40.

Ericsson 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.