Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) shares saw strong trading volume on Friday . 3,418,455 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the previous session’s volume of 4,412,237 shares.The stock last traded at $16.0350 and had previously closed at $15.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised Vodafone Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised Vodafone Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Berenberg Bank raised Vodafone Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Vodafone Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.00.

Vodafone Group Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.78.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vodafone Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VOD. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Vodafone Group by 156.8% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,275 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Bayban lifted its stake in Vodafone Group by 6,696.7% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 2,039 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 2,009 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Vodafone Group by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 2,400 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Vodafone Group by 81.8% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,651 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 38.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,435 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 946 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.84% of the company’s stock.

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.