Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) Raised to Buy at Berenberg Bank

Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) was upgraded by Berenberg Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Vodafone Group to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Zacks Research cut Vodafone Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered Vodafone Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Vodafone Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and seven have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Vodafone Group Stock Performance

Vodafone Group stock traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $13.91. The company had a trading volume of 3,382,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,115,216. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Vodafone Group has a 12-month low of $8.00 and a 12-month high of $13.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $12.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.75.

Institutional Trading of Vodafone Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Vodafone Group by 21.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 66,351 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 11,703 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vodafone Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $303,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 296,581 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,779,000 after buying an additional 5,592 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in Vodafone Group by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 20,830 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 3,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Vodafone Group by 512.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,396,305 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $13,076,000 after buying an additional 1,168,435 shares during the last quarter. 7.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vodafone Group Company Profile

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.