US Bancorp DE Sells 43,999 Shares of Vodafone Group PLC $VOD

Key Points

• US Bancorp DE significantly reduced its stake in Vodafone Group PLC by 55.3%, owning 35,568 shares valued at $333,000 after selling 43,999 shares in the first quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors increased their holdings in Vodafone Group, with Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raising its stake by 65.5% and NBC Securities Inc. increasing its stake by 116,833.3% during the same period.
• Vodafone Group's stock has been subject to varying analyst opinions, with Goldman Sachs downgrading it from "neutral" to "sell" and only one analyst giving a "buy" rating, leading to a consensus rating of "Hold".

US Bancorp DE trimmed its holdings in Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD - Free Report) by 55.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,568 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 43,999 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE's holdings in Vodafone Group were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Vodafone Group by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 611,461 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $5,191,000 after purchasing an additional 173,816 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Vodafone Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $89,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Vodafone Group by 57,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 29,952 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 29,900 shares during the period. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in Vodafone Group by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 900,477 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $7,645,000 after acquiring an additional 45,669 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Vodafone Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,066,000. 7.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on VOD shares. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Vodafone Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Vodafone Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $136.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Vodafone Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. They set an "equal weight" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Vodafone Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $136.00.

Vodafone Group Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ VOD traded up $0.06 on Monday, hitting $11.73. 2,394,997 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,842,776. The company's 50-day moving average price is $10.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.79. The company has a market capitalization of $28.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.62. Vodafone Group PLC has a 52-week low of $8.00 and a 52-week high of $11.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Vodafone Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.2355 dividend. This represents a yield of 660.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Vodafone Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.98%.

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.