Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC)

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 2,832 put options on the company. This is an increase of 91% compared to the average volume of 1,484 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ERIC. TheStreet raised shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays downgraded shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.90.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Price Performance

Shares of ERIC opened at $5.03 on Friday. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson has a fifty-two week low of $4.33 and a fifty-two week high of $6.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $5.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.34. The company has a market cap of $16.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.89 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 22nd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) had a negative net margin of 9.82% and a positive return on equity of 11.77%. The company had revenue of $6.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th were given a $0.1293 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. This is an increase from Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)’s previous dividend of $0.08. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)’s dividend payout ratio is currently -23.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 146,286,324 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $921,604,000 after purchasing an additional 4,351,420 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 2,148,737 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,537,000 after buying an additional 540,022 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,309,599 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,250,000 after buying an additional 89,443 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) in the 4th quarter valued at $6,930,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 4,904.4% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 835,784 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,265,000 after buying an additional 819,083 shares in the last quarter. 7.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Company Profile

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.