Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) Upgraded to “Strong Sell” at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Vodafone Group (NASDAQ:VOD) to a strong sell rating in a research note released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Vodafone Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Berenberg Bank raised Vodafone Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on Vodafone Group in a report on Tuesday. They set an “underperform” rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Vodafone Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $136.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $72.00.

Vodafone Group Price Performance

Vodafone Group stock opened at $11.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.62. Vodafone Group has a 52 week low of $8.00 and a 52 week high of $12.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $11.61 and a 200-day moving average of $10.69.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vodafone Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 27,680,971 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $295,079,000 after purchasing an additional 5,160,095 shares during the last quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC lifted its stake in Vodafone Group by 0.7% in the second quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 25,866,761 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $275,740,000 after purchasing an additional 169,833 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 116.9% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,076,148 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $86,092,000 after acquiring an additional 4,352,389 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 1.3% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,499,770 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $51,533,000 after acquiring an additional 69,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SALT Holding Corp. raised its stake in shares of Vodafone Group by 3,039.6% during the second quarter. SALT Holding Corp. now owns 3,623,500 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $38,627,000 after acquiring an additional 3,508,086 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.84% of the company’s stock.

About Vodafone Group

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.