UBS Group AG Sells 133,518 Shares of Vodafone Group PLC $VOD

UBS Group AG trimmed its position in Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 982,687 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 133,518 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Vodafone Group were worth $12,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 66,351 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $622,000 after buying an additional 11,703 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 296,581 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,779,000 after acquiring an additional 5,592 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Vodafone Group by 19.7% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 20,830 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 3,435 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Vodafone Group by 13.4% in the second quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 19,278 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Vodafone Group during the second quarter worth about $140,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.84% of the company’s stock.

Vodafone Group Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:VOD opened at $15.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.14. Vodafone Group PLC has a 12 month low of $9.21 and a 12 month high of $16.60. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $15.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.05.

Vodafone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.2766 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 357.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VOD shares. Zacks Research upgraded Vodafone Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group upgraded Vodafone Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Vodafone Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Vodafone Group 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.