Brokerages Set Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) Price Target at $72.00

Shares of Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.00.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Research raised Vodafone Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Barclays raised Vodafone Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vodafone Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a research note on Monday, November 3rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vodafone Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 21.4% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 66,351 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 11,703 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Vodafone Group by 1.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 296,581 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,779,000 after acquiring an additional 5,592 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,435 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 29,519 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 12,284 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.84% of the company’s stock.

Vodafone Group Stock Performance

VOD opened at $15.65 on Friday. Vodafone Group has a twelve month low of $8.05 and a twelve month high of $15.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $14.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.17.

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.