Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) Rating Increased to Buy at New Street Research

Key Points

• New Street Research upgraded Vodafone Group from neutral to buy, giving the stock a more positive analyst view.
• Despite the upgrade, broader analyst sentiment remains cautious: Vodafone now has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $52.38.
• Vodafone shares traded at $14.75 on Friday, with recent institutional buying activity notable, including large stake increases from Bank of New York Mellon and other funds.

Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at New Street Research from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports.

VOD has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Vodafone Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 31st. UBS Group raised shares of Vodafone Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Bank of America lowered shares of Vodafone Group from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $13.13 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays lowered Vodafone Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Vodafone Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $52.38.

Vodafone Group Stock Performance

VOD traded up $1.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $14.75. 2,789,995 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,188,447. The stock's 50-day moving average is $14.67 and its 200 day moving average is $14.66. Vodafone Group has a 12 month low of $10.66 and a 12 month high of $16.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vodafone Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Vodafone Group by 9,637.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,902,486 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $117,602,000 after buying an additional 8,811,061 shares during the last quarter. SALT Holding Corp. grew its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 3,039.6% in the 2nd quarter. SALT Holding Corp. now owns 3,623,500 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $38,627,000 after acquiring an additional 3,508,086 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 282.5% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,161,978 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $33,707,000 after purchasing an additional 2,335,306 shares during the last quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Vodafone Group during the third quarter valued at about $23,495,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Vodafone Group by 6,354.9% during the third quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 1,345,455 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $15,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,324,611 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.84% of the company's stock.

About Vodafone Group

Vodafone Group plc is a British multinational telecommunications company headquartered in London. It provides a wide range of communications services to consumer and enterprise customers, including mobile voice and data, fixed-line broadband, cable and pay-TV, and wholesale network services. The company also offers business-oriented solutions such as cloud and hosting, managed networks, unified communications, and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and platform services.

Vodafone operates through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and partner arrangements across multiple countries, with a particularly large presence in Europe and in several African markets.

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