Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $10.40.

ERIC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Ericsson in a research note on Monday, February 9th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $11.00 price objective for the company. Argus upgraded Ericsson to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ericsson in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ericsson in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ericsson

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. ABC Arbitrage SA increased its stake in shares of Ericsson by 64.6% in the 2nd quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 5,121,349 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,009,723 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in 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 worth $28,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005,398 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Ericsson in the second quarter valued at approximately $17,461,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ericsson by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,903,298 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $18,603,000 after buying an additional 304,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Defiance ETFs LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ericsson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,766,000. 7.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ericsson Stock Down 2.2%

ERIC stock opened at $11.08 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.94. Ericsson has a 12 month low of $6.64 and a 12 month high of $11.38. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

About Ericsson

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.