Vodafone Group PLC $VOD Shares Acquired by Aprio Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Vodafone Group PLC by 100.6%, owning 55,116 shares valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 27,638 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have made significant changes to their stakes in Vodafone, with notable increases including Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.'s 65.5% lift and NBC Securities Inc.'s massive 116,833.3% increase in the first quarter.
• Vodafone's stock has been rated by various analysts, with Goldman Sachs downgrading it to "sell" and setting a target price of $136.00, while Zacks and Berenberg Bank have raised their ratings to "hold."

Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD - Free Report) by 100.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,116 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 27,638 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Vodafone Group were worth $516,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VOD. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC raised its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 25,696,928 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $240,780,000 after acquiring an additional 3,690,617 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 341.2% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 3,206,506 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vodafone Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $21,969,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 272.9% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,253,059 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $21,111,000 after acquiring an additional 1,648,879 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 63,786.2% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,597,156 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,965,000 after acquiring an additional 1,594,656 shares during the period. 7.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vodafone Group Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ VOD traded up $0.06 on Friday, hitting $11.81. 2,882,394 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,595,996. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Vodafone Group PLC has a fifty-two week low of $8.00 and a fifty-two week high of $12.06. The company has a market cap of $28.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.36, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $11.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.14.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Vodafone Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Vodafone Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. They issued an "equal weight" rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $136.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vodafone Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $136.00.

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.