Short Interest in Vodafone Group Public Limited (NASDAQ:VOD) Expands By 16.5%

Vodafone Group Public Limited (NASDAQ:VOD – Get Rating) saw a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,940,000 shares, a growth of 16.5% from the March 31st total of 10,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC grew its holdings in Vodafone Group Public by 10.5% during the first quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 11,824,204 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $196,518,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127,276 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Vodafone Group Public by 92.1% during the third quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,178,068 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $172,701,000 after purchasing an additional 5,358,099 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Vodafone Group Public by 1.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,010,852 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $108,318,000 after purchasing an additional 121,056 shares during the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd grew its holdings in Vodafone Group Public by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 6,921,442 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $103,337,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Vodafone Group Public by 3.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,860,805 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $105,999,000 after purchasing an additional 208,558 shares during the last quarter. 9.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shares of VOD opened at $15.67 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $16.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Vodafone Group Public has a twelve month low of $14.53 and a twelve month high of $20.36.

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Vodafone Group Public from GBX 165 ($2.06) to GBX 155 ($1.94) and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 1st. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Vodafone Group Public from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 23rd. Argus lowered shares of Vodafone Group Public from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Vodafone Group Public from GBX 230 ($2.87) to GBX 225 ($2.81) in a research report on Friday, April 1st. Finally, Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Vodafone Group Public from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vodafone Group Public has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $112.53.

About Vodafone Group Public (Get Rating)

Vodafone Group Public Limited Company engages in telecommunication services in Europe and internationally. The company offers mobile services that enable customers to call, text, and access data; fixed line services, including broadband, television (TV) offerings, and voice; and convergence services under the GigaKombi and Vodafone One names to customers.

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