Investors Purchase High Volume of Vodafone Group Call Options (NASDAQ:VOD)

Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 5,262 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 57% compared to the average daily volume of 3,349 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vodafone Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vodafone Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 156.8% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,275 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 3,455.7% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 3,449 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 3,352 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Vodafone Group by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,435 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Vodafone Group by 49.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 2,201 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 7.84% of the company’s stock.

Vodafone Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VOD traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $14.33. 1,202,290 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,259,009. Vodafone Group has a 12 month low of $8.00 and a 12 month high of $14.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.02.

Vodafone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be paid a $0.2567 dividend. This represents a yield of 434.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 24th.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on VOD. Barclays upgraded Vodafone Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Vodafone Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Vodafone Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Vodafone Group Company 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.