Vodafone Group Public Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:VOD)

Vodafone Group Public Limited (NASDAQ:VOD) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 18,757 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 101% compared to the average daily volume of 9,323 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on VOD shares. Bank of America downgraded Vodafone Group Public from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Vodafone Group Public from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. DZ Bank raised shares of Vodafone Group Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Vodafone Group Public from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Vodafone Group Public Stock Up 0.1 %

VOD opened at $9.36 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.05. The company has a market capitalization of $22.16 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.75. Vodafone Group Public has a 1-year low of $8.00 and a 1-year high of $10.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC raised its holdings in Vodafone Group Public by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 22,006,311 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $186,834,000 after acquiring an additional 97,636 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 14,598,375 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $123,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,238,935 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Vodafone Group Public by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 9,027,376 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $76,642,000 after purchasing an additional 255,623 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Vodafone Group Public by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,483,837 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $46,558,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,256 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Vodafone Group Public by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,429,784 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $46,099,000 after buying an additional 601,151 shares in the last quarter. 7.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Vodafone Group Public

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.