Ethic Inc. Lowers Holdings in Vodafone Group PLC $VOD

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. reduced its stake in Vodafone Group PLC by 30.7%, selling 39,349 shares and holding 88,679 shares worth approximately $822,000 as of the latest filing.
• Other institutional investors made significant changes during the same period, with Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increasing their stake by 65.5% and NBC Securities Inc. boosting theirs by an astounding 116,833.3%.
• Vodafone Group's stock recently saw an increase of 1.6%, opening at $11.90, with a market capitalization of $28.88 billion.

Ethic Inc. cut its position in shares of Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD - Free Report) by 30.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 88,679 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 39,349 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Vodafone Group were worth $822,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its holdings in Vodafone Group by 65.5% during the first quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 3,159 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Vodafone Group during the first quarter worth $31,000. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Vodafone Group by 116,833.3% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,508 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 3,505 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vodafone Group by 258.0% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 5,180 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 3,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Vodafone Group by 509.7% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 6,829 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 5,709 shares in the last quarter. 7.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VOD. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Vodafone Group in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. They set an "equal weight" rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $136.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Vodafone Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vodafone Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $136.00.

Vodafone Group Price Performance

VOD stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $11.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,681,783 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,573,020. The stock has a market cap of $28.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Vodafone Group PLC has a fifty-two week low of $8.00 and a fifty-two week high of $11.99. The company's 50 day moving average is $11.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.95.

Vodafone Group Company Profile

Vodafone Group Public Limited Company provides telecommunication services in Europe and internationally. It offers mobile connectivity services comprising end-to-end services for mobile voice and data, messaging, device management, BYOx, and telecoms management, as well as professional and consulting services; and fixed line connectivity, such as fixed voice and data, broadband, software-defined networks, managed WAN, LAN, ethernet, and satellite; and financial services, as well as business and merchant services.