Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday . Approximately 15,540,582 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 76% from the previous session’s volume of 8,844,781 shares.The stock last traded at $10.24 and had previously closed at $10.04.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VOD shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Bank of America cut shares of Vodafone Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Vodafone Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Vodafone Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $25.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $9.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.08.

Vodafone Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.2355 dividend. This represents a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Vodafone Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.23%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vodafone Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Modern Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Vodafone Group in the first quarter worth $285,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Vodafone Group by 512.8% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,396,305 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $13,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,168,435 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased 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 worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 3,435 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Vodafone Group by 1.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 296,581 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,779,000 after purchasing an additional 5,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC increased its position in Vodafone Group by 8.8% in the first quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 44,855 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,621 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.84% of the company’s stock.

Vodafone Group 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.