Vodafone Group PLC $VOD Shares Acquired by Auto Owners Insurance Co

Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) by 1,221.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 525,072 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 485,339 shares during the quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co’s holdings in Vodafone Group were worth $6,936,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vodafone Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,492,000. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Vodafone Group during the third quarter worth $1,232,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC grew its position in Vodafone Group by 366.9% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 86,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $999,000 after buying an additional 67,658 shares during the last quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Vodafone Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $812,000. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Vodafone Group during the fourth quarter worth about $922,000. 7.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vodafone Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:VOD opened at $14.30 on Friday. Vodafone Group PLC has a 1-year low of $10.06 and a 1-year high of $16.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15.26 and its 200-day moving average is $14.56.

Vodafone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.2766 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 376.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on VOD. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Bank of America lowered shares of Vodafone Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $13.13 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. DZ Bank cut Vodafone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Barclays downgraded Vodafone Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Vodafone Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $52.38.

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.