HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Vodafone Group Public Limited (NASDAQ:VOD)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Vodafone Group Public Limited (NASDAQ:VOD) by 21.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 407,898 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 71,695 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vodafone Group Public were worth $4,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vodafone Group Public during the 3rd quarter worth $133,000. Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 29.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 19,839 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $199,000 after acquiring an additional 4,491 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 627.3% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 9,651 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 8,324 shares during the last quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP now owns 3,283,292 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $32,898,000 after acquiring an additional 60,943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 233.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 210,210 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,106,000 after acquiring an additional 147,081 shares during the last quarter. 7.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Vodafone Group Public from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of Vodafone Group Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Vodafone Group Public Price Performance

Shares of VOD opened at $8.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $22.61 billion, a PE ratio of 8.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.37. Vodafone Group Public Limited has a fifty-two week low of $8.02 and a fifty-two week high of $10.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.37.

Vodafone Group Public Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.2423 dividend. This represents a yield of 8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Vodafone Group Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.86%.

Vodafone Group Public Company Profile

Vodafone Group Public Limited Company provides telecommunication services in Europe and internationally. It offers mobile connectivity services comprising end-to-end services for mobile voice and data, messaging, device management, BYOx, and telecoms management, as well as professional and consulting services; and fixed line connectivity, such as fixed voice and data, broadband, software-defined networks, managed WAN, LAN, ethernet, and satellite; and financial services, as well as business and merchant services.