Benjamin Edwards Inc. Raises Holdings in Vodafone Group PLC $VOD

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its Vodafone Group stake by 385.7% in the second quarter, purchasing 68,086 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 85,737 shares valued at approximately $1.13 million.
• Other institutional investors also added to their positions, although institutional and hedge-fund ownership remains relatively limited at 7.84% of Vodafone’s outstanding stock.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans negative: Vodafone has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $10.57, despite New Street Research upgrading the stock to “Buy.” Shares recently opened at $16.22, near their one-year high of $16.60.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD - Free Report) by 385.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 85,737 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 68,086 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Vodafone Group were worth $1,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 21.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 66,351 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $622,000 after buying an additional 11,703 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Vodafone Group by 1.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 296,581 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,779,000 after acquiring an additional 5,592 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in Vodafone Group by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 20,830 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 3,435 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Vodafone Group by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 19,278 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Vodafone Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $140,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VOD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. New Street Research upgraded Vodafone Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. DZ Bank downgraded Vodafone Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Barclays lowered Vodafone Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Bank of America downgraded Vodafone Group from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $13.13 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Vodafone Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $10.57.

Vodafone Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VOD opened at $16.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.06. Vodafone Group PLC has a 1 year low of $11.12 and a 1 year high of $16.60.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VOD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source