Bank of New York Mellon Corp Decreases Holdings in Vodafone Group PLC $VOD

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon cut its Vodafone Group stake by 73.5% in the first quarter, selling 6.54 million shares and retaining 2.36 million shares worth approximately $35.4 million.
• Analyst sentiment has weakened, with several firms downgrading the stock; Vodafone currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”, based on two Buy, four Hold, and four Sell ratings.
• Vodafone shares opened at $15.15, within a 12-month range of $10.66 to $16.60. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2766 per share, payable July 30 to eligible shareholders.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its stake in Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD - Free Report) by 73.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,358,789 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 6,543,697 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.10% of Vodafone Group worth $35,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Vodafone Group by 156.8% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,275 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Bayban grew its holdings in Vodafone Group by 6,696.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 2,039 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 2,009 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Vodafone Group by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 2,400 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 81.8% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,651 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 38.0% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,435 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 946 shares during the period. 7.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lowered Vodafone Group from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $13.13 price target for the company. in a research note 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. DZ Bank downgraded Vodafone Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Barclays cut shares of Vodafone Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vodafone Group currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $52.38.

Vodafone Group Stock Performance

VOD opened at $15.15 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Vodafone Group PLC has a 12-month low of $10.66 and a 12-month high of $16.60. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $14.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.83.

Vodafone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.2766 per share. This represents a yield of 376.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th.

Vodafone Group Company Profile

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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