First Trust Advisors LP Purchases New Position in Vodafone Group Public Limited (NASDAQ:VOD)

First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Vodafone Group Public Limited (NASDAQ:VOD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 274,465 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $2,330,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 27,038 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 6,987 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vodafone Group Public by 258.0% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 5,180 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 3,733 shares in the last quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. boosted its position in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 90.9% in the fourth quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 31,500 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,025,823 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $8,709,000 after purchasing an additional 83,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 224.9% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 683,046 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $5,799,000 after buying an additional 472,836 shares in the last quarter. 7.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VOD shares. StockNews.com cut Vodafone Group Public from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 26th. DZ Bank raised Vodafone Group Public from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America downgraded Vodafone Group Public from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Vodafone Group Public in a research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold".

Vodafone Group Public Price Performance

NASDAQ VOD traded down $0.27 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $9.41. 20,960,641 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,570,549. The company has a market capitalization of $22.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.61. Vodafone Group Public Limited has a 12-month low of $8.00 and a 12-month high of $10.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Vodafone Group Public 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.