Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Cuts Holdings in Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lessened its stake in Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,169,399 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 65,005 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Vodafone Group were worth $10,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 14,409 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,454 shares during the last quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 20,395 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 1,611 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 10,819 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 1,631 shares during the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 16,486 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 63.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,881 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.84% of the company's stock.

Vodafone Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VOD opened at $10.04 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.74 and a 200 day moving average of $9.07. Vodafone Group PLC has a 52 week low of $8.00 and a 52 week high of $10.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.81 and a beta of 0.58.

Vodafone Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.2355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a yield of 6.6%. Vodafone Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "underweight" rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vodafone Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Vodafone Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold".

Vodafone Group 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.

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