Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $10.96 and traded as high as $11.21. Ericsson shares last traded at $11.06, with a volume of 8,334,879 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ERIC shares. Danske lowered shares of Ericsson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings cut Ericsson from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ericsson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ericsson from $11.40 to $10.20 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ericsson in a report on Thursday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $9.60.

Ericsson Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $34.59 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $10.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.97.

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 15th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. Ericsson had a net margin of 8.31% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ericsson will post 0.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ericsson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 29th were issued a dividend of $0.1579 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 29th. Ericsson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ericsson

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Ericsson during the second quarter worth approximately $15,812,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Ericsson by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 160,581 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 12,534 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in Ericsson during the first quarter valued at approximately $493,000. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ericsson by 18.4% in the third quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 14,891 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 2,315 shares during the last quarter. 7.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ericsson

Ericsson is a Swedish telecommunications technology company founded in 1876 by Lars Magnus Ericsson. Headquartered in Stockholm, it develops and supplies equipment, software and services for communications networks.

The company’s offerings include mobile network infrastructure, including 5G radio and core network technologies, as well as cloud software and services for communications service providers. Ericsson also provides enterprise wireless solutions and communications platforms.

Ericsson serves customers in markets around the world, including telecom operators, businesses and other organizations.