Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) Shares Sold by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management reduced its stake in shares of Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD - Free Report) by 13.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 364,342 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 55,394 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Vodafone Group were worth $3,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC raised its position in Vodafone Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 22,006,311 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $186,834,000 after purchasing an additional 97,636 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 14,598,375 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $123,940,000 after buying an additional 2,238,935 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 9,027,376 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $76,642,000 after acquiring an additional 255,623 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Vodafone Group by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,483,837 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $46,558,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206,256 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Vodafone Group by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,429,784 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $46,099,000 after purchasing an additional 601,151 shares during the period. 7.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VOD. DZ Bank raised shares of Vodafone Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of 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 report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold".

Vodafone Group Price Performance

NASDAQ VOD remained flat at $10.04 during trading on Thursday. 10,406,589 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,787,769. The stock has a market cap of $24.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.81 and a beta of 0.58. Vodafone Group PLC has a 1-year low of $8.00 and a 1-year high of $10.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.06.

Vodafone Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given 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 payout ratio is 41.23%.

About Vodafone Group

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.