Sapient Capital LLC Invests $121,000 in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 19,251 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $121,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 31.2% in the third quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 13,457 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 3,201 shares during the period. 626 Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) in the fourth quarter worth approximately $72,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) in the fourth quarter worth approximately $103,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC lifted its stake in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 57.3% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 24,898 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $146,000 after acquiring an additional 9,067 shares during the period. 7.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Price Performance

Shares of ERIC opened at $4.88 on Wednesday. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson has a 52-week low of $4.33 and a 52-week high of $6.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.20. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $5.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.35. The firm has a market cap of $16.25 billion, a PE ratio of -6.68 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th were given a dividend of $0.1293 per share. This is a positive change from Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)’s previous dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)’s dividend payout ratio is presently -23.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.