Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Purchases 944,189 Shares of Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) by 18.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,998,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 944,189 shares during the period. Vodafone Group comprises approximately 0.7% of Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Vodafone Group were worth $56,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in Vodafone Group by 57,500.0% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 29,952 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 29,900 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Vodafone Group in the fourth quarter valued at $970,000. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 842,286 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,151,000 after purchasing an additional 67,086 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vodafone Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $216,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 27,103 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 2,246 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VOD. Bank of America lowered shares of Vodafone Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. DZ Bank raised shares of Vodafone Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vodafone Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Vodafone Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ VOD opened at $10.20 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.77 and its 200-day moving average is $9.08. Vodafone Group PLC has a 12-month low of $8.00 and a 12-month high of $10.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $25.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 0.58.

Vodafone Group Cuts Dividend

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

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.