Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 4,778 Shares of Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) by 27.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,181 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,778 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Ericsson were worth $172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ERIC. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ericsson by 225.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 17,583 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 12,180 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Ericsson by 80.7% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 47,443 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 21,192 shares in the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. bought a new stake in Ericsson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $167,000. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ericsson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,705,000. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in Ericsson by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 15,015 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,464 shares in the last quarter. 7.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ERIC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ericsson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Ericsson from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th.

Ericsson Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of ERIC stock opened at $8.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $8.40 and a 200-day moving average of $8.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Ericsson has a 12-month low of $6.00 and a 12-month high of $9.00. The company has a market capitalization of $28.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 167.60, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.94.

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.03. Ericsson had a net margin of 0.67% and a return on equity of 16.45%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.83 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ericsson will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.