Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Sells 868,172 Shares of Vodafone Group Public Limited (NASDAQ:VOD)

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Vodafone Group Public Limited (NASDAQ:VOD) by 56.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 682,362 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 868,172 shares during the quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Vodafone Group Public were worth $6,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC raised its stake in Vodafone Group Public by 40.4% in the 1st quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 21,608,956 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $192,320,000 after acquiring an additional 6,216,805 shares during the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd raised its stake in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 9,269,284 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $80,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400,000 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 20.1% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,548,765 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $40,484,000 after purchasing an additional 761,624 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Vodafone Group Public by 33.9% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 1,219,658 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $10,855,000 after buying an additional 308,861 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Vodafone Group Public by 19,827.9% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 189,514 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,649,000 after buying an additional 188,563 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.84% of the company’s stock.

Vodafone Group Public Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VOD traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.06. 2,836,695 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,869,261. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.83. Vodafone Group Public Limited has a twelve month low of $8.02 and a twelve month high of $10.19.

Vodafone Group Public Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.469 per share. This represents a yield of 9.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised Vodafone Group Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Vodafone Group Public in a report on Thursday, June 20th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, New Street Research raised Vodafone Group Public to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.45.

Vodafone Group Public 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.