Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Vodafone Group from “buy” to “hold.” The broader analyst consensus is also “Hold,” with three Buy, four Hold, and three Sell ratings and an average target price of $10.57.
• Vodafone shares opened at $16.90, up 1.9%, near their 12-month high of $17.15 and above both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their Vodafone positions, including Bank of New York Mellon, SALT Holding, BNP Paribas Financial Markets, and Jump Financial; institutions collectively own 7.84% of the company.

Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

VOD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America downgraded Vodafone Group from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $13.13 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Zacks Research lowered Vodafone Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. New Street Research raised Vodafone Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays lowered Vodafone Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Vodafone Group from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vodafone Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.57.

Vodafone Group Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of VOD stock opened at $16.90 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $15.38 and its 200 day moving average is $15.18. Vodafone Group has a 12 month low of $11.12 and a 12 month high of $17.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vodafone Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Vodafone Group by 9,637.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,902,486 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $117,602,000 after purchasing an additional 8,811,061 shares during the last quarter. SALT Holding Corp. grew its position in Vodafone Group by 3,039.6% during the 2nd quarter. SALT Holding Corp. now owns 3,623,500 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $38,627,000 after acquiring an additional 3,508,086 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Vodafone Group by 282.5% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,161,978 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $33,707,000 after purchasing an additional 2,335,306 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in Vodafone Group by 6,354.9% in the third quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 1,345,455 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $15,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,324,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Vodafone Group by 235.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,548,454 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $16,507,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086,405 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.84% of the company's stock.

About Vodafone Group

Vodafone Group plc is a British multinational telecommunications company headquartered in London. It provides a wide range of communications services to consumer and enterprise customers, including mobile voice and data, fixed-line broadband, cable and pay-TV, and wholesale network services. The company also offers business-oriented solutions such as cloud and hosting, managed networks, unified communications, and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and platform services.

Vodafone operates through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and partner arrangements across multiple countries, with a particularly large presence in Europe and in several African markets.

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