Icon Advisers Inc. Co. Increases Position in Vodafone Group PLC $VOD

Icon Advisers Inc. Co. increased its stake in shares of Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD) by 17.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 519,731 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 78,474 shares during the period. Vodafone Group comprises 1.3% of Icon Advisers Inc. Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Icon Advisers Inc. Co.’s holdings in Vodafone Group were worth $5,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VOD. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 25,866,761 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $275,740,000 after acquiring an additional 169,833 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Vodafone Group by 116.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 4,352,389 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 5.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,117,008 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $29,207,000 after buying an additional 159,985 shares in the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA boosted its position in shares of Vodafone Group by 116.3% in the 2nd quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 2,972,904 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,691,000 after buying an additional 1,598,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Vodafone Group by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,194,203 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $20,560,000 after acquiring an additional 409,376 shares during the last quarter. 7.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VOD has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Vodafone Group in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vodafone Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Zacks Research cut Vodafone Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Vodafone Group to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and seven have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $72.00.

Vodafone Group Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:VOD opened at $12.46 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $11.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.22. Vodafone Group PLC has a 12-month low of $8.00 and a 12-month high of $12.72.

Vodafone Group Announces Dividend

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

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.