Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC)

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 2,152 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 204% compared to the average daily volume of 707 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ERIC. StockNews.com upgraded Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) from $5.90 to $6.70 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $6.70.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) Stock Performance

Shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) stock traded up $0.01 on Thursday, reaching $8.07. 20,940,061 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,662,625. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.89 billion, a PE ratio of -269.00 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.21 and a 200 day moving average of $7.46. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson has a 52 week low of $4.77 and a 52 week high of $8.62.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (NASDAQ:ERIC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.02. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) had a positive return on equity of 13.31% and a negative net margin of 0.47%. The business had revenue of $5.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.73 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 11.1% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 30,197 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 80.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 23,662 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 10,530 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $601,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,645,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) by 154.7% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 56,837 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 34,521 shares in the last quarter. 7.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)

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.