Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $10.5650.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VOD shares. New Street Research upgraded Vodafone Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research cut Vodafone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Barclays downgraded Vodafone Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Vodafone Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Vodafone Group from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday.

Vodafone Group Price Performance

Shares of Vodafone Group stock opened at $16.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $15.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.19. Vodafone Group has a 1 year low of $11.12 and a 1 year high of $17.15.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vodafone Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Vodafone Group by 72.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 866,316 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $13,014,000 after acquiring an additional 363,694 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 7,003.0% in the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 788,577 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $10,429,000 after acquiring an additional 777,475 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 385.7% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 85,737 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 68,086 shares during the last quarter. Transmarket Holdings LP raised its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 137.3% in the 1st quarter. Transmarket Holdings LP now owns 235,689 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,540,000 after purchasing an additional 136,358 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi acquired a new stake in Vodafone Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $8,060,000. 7.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.