Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Has $161,000 Holdings in Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD)

Key Points

• Thornburg Investment Management Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Vodafone Group PLC by 87.7%, now holding only 17,164 shares worth $161,000.
• Other institutional investors, such as ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC and Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC, have increased their holdings in Vodafone Group during the recent quarters.
• Wall Street analysts have generally rated Vodafone stock as a "hold," with some rating it as "underweight," should investors exercise caution regarding future performance.

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD - Free Report) by 87.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,164 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 122,631 shares during the quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Vodafone Group were worth $161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VOD. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 3,690,617 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in Vodafone Group by 341.2% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 4,146,322 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $35,202,000 after buying an additional 3,206,506 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Vodafone Group during the fourth quarter valued at $21,969,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its position in Vodafone Group by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 14,598,375 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $123,940,000 after buying an additional 2,238,935 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in Vodafone Group by 272.9% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,253,059 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $21,111,000 after buying an additional 1,648,879 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.84% of the company's stock.

Vodafone Group Trading Up 1.4%

VOD traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $10.96. The stock had a trading volume of 10,487,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,019,809. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.62. 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $10.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.58. Vodafone Group PLC has a 52 week low of $8.00 and a 52 week high of $11.66.

Vodafone Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $0.2355 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 660.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Vodafone Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on VOD shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vodafone Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Vodafone Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $136.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Vodafone Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. They set an "equal weight" rating for the company. Berenberg Bank raised Vodafone Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $136.00.

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.