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

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 2,675 call options on the company. This is an increase of 74% compared to the average volume of 1,540 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ERIC. Wall Street Zen lowered Ericsson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Argus raised Ericsson to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Ericsson in a research report on Monday, February 9th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $11.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ericsson in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ericsson presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $11.00.

Ericsson Stock Performance

Shares of ERIC stock traded up $0.39 on Monday, hitting $12.27. 2,129,032 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,948,399. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $41.35 billion, a PE ratio of 15.55, a PEG 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $11.53 and its 200 day moving average is $10.52.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ericsson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantitative Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ericsson during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,349,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ericsson by 57.6% during the 3rd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 32,277 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 11,792 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Ericsson by 12.4% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 13,017 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 1,441 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Ericsson in the first quarter worth $126,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in Ericsson in the third quarter worth $28,000. 7.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.