Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Vodafone Group shares gapped down ahead of Wednesday’s open, falling from a prior close of $15.56 to an opening price of $15.08 and last trading around $15.13.
• Recent analyst sentiment has been mixed to negative, with several firms cutting ratings; MarketBeat says the stock now has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $52.38.
• The company recently announced a dividend of $0.2766 per share payable on July 30, and institutional investors have been adding to positions, including large increases from Bank of New York Mellon and others.

Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $15.56, but opened at $15.08. Vodafone Group shares last traded at $15.1250, with a volume of 495,571 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VOD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays cut Vodafone Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Vodafone Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. New Street Research upgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Vodafone Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $52.38.

Vodafone Group Stock Down 3.1%

The company's 50 day simple moving average is $14.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Vodafone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.2766 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a dividend yield of 376.0%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VOD. 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 purchasing an additional 8,811,061 shares in the last quarter. SALT Holding Corp. increased its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 3,039.6% during the second quarter. SALT Holding Corp. now owns 3,623,500 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $38,627,000 after buying an additional 3,508,086 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 282.5% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,161,978 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $33,707,000 after buying an additional 2,335,306 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in Vodafone Group by 6,354.9% in the third quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 1,345,455 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $15,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Vodafone Group by 235.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,548,454 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $16,507,000 after acquiring an additional 1,086,405 shares during the last quarter. 7.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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