Barometer Capital Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 114,800 Vodafone Group PLC $VOD

Key Points

• Barometer Capital Management opened a new position in Vodafone Group during the first quarter, buying 114,800 shares valued at about $1.724 million.
• Several other institutional investors also adjusted their Vodafone holdings, and the company remains 7.84% owned by institutions and hedge funds.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed to cautious: recent rating changes left Vodafone with an average “Reduce” rating and a $52.38 consensus price target.

Barometer Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 114,800 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $1,724,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC raised its holdings in Vodafone Group by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 26,854,952 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $403,361,000 after acquiring an additional 784,305 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,286,509 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $201,935,000 after purchasing an additional 182,574 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,331,144 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $85,041,000 after purchasing an additional 610,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SALT Holding Corp. lifted its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. SALT Holding Corp. now owns 3,821,000 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $44,324,000 after purchasing an additional 197,500 shares during the last quarter. 7.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. DZ Bank lowered Vodafone Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. New Street Research upgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Barclays lowered shares of Vodafone Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vodafone Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vodafone Group currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $52.38.

Vodafone Group Stock Down 0.8%

VOD opened at $15.27 on Wednesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $14.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.14. Vodafone Group PLC has a 1 year low of $10.66 and a 1 year high of $16.60.

Vodafone Group Dividend Announcement

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

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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