Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Grows Position in Vodafone Group PLC $VOD

Key Points

• Gamco Investors INC. increased its stake in Vodafone Group PLC by 2.2%, owning over 1 million shares worth approximately $9.8 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Barclays PLC made a significant move by raising its position in Vodafone by 57,500.0%, while other hedge funds also adjusted their stakes, reflecting growing institutional interest.
• Recent analyst ratings show a mixed outlook for Vodafone, with investment firms assigning hold and sell ratings, along with a consensus target price of $136.00 per share.

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,048,723 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 22,900 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL's holdings in Vodafone Group were worth $9,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC boosted its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 16.8% during the first quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 25,696,928 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $240,780,000 after acquiring an additional 3,690,617 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Vodafone Group by 341.2% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 4,146,322 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $35,202,000 after acquiring an additional 3,206,506 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vodafone Group during the fourth quarter valued at $21,969,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 272.9% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,253,059 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $21,111,000 after acquiring an additional 1,648,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 63,786.2% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,597,156 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,965,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594,656 shares during the last quarter. 7.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on VOD. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vodafone Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Vodafone Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Vodafone Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. They set an "equal weight" rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Vodafone Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $136.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Vodafone Group presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $136.00.

Vodafone Group Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ VOD traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $11.96. The stock had a trading volume of 4,050,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,537,580. Vodafone Group PLC has a 52-week low of $8.00 and a 52-week high of $12.06. The firm has a market cap of $29.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.62. The business's fifty day moving average price is $11.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.01. 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 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.