Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Grows Stock Position in Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD - Free Report) by 272.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,253,059 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 1,648,879 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Vodafone Group worth $21,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,998,450 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $56,205,000 after buying an additional 944,189 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its position in Vodafone Group by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 63,810 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Vodafone Group by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 428,215 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,012,000 after purchasing an additional 15,978 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Vodafone Group in the 1st quarter worth about $1,020,000. Finally, Optas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vodafone Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $110,000. 7.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on VOD. Wall Street Zen cut Vodafone Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Bank of America lowered shares of Vodafone Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, DZ Bank raised Vodafone Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vodafone Group currently has an average rating of "Hold".

Vodafone Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VOD traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $10.66. The company had a trading volume of 17,836,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,068,444. Vodafone Group PLC has a 1 year low of $8.00 and a 1 year high of $10.70. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $9.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $26.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.35 and a beta of 0.58.

Vodafone Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.2355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a dividend yield of 6.6%. Vodafone Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.23%.

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.