Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 12,150 Shares of Vodafone Group Public Limited (NASDAQ:VOD)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Vodafone Group Public Limited (NASDAQ:VOD) by 33.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,643 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 12,150 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Vodafone Group Public were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC boosted its holdings in Vodafone Group Public by 1.2% during the second quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 21,870,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $193,987,000 after buying an additional 261,060 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in Vodafone Group Public during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $82,716,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Vodafone Group Public by 9.6% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,984,642 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $44,214,000 after purchasing an additional 435,877 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Vodafone Group Public by 445.7% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,805,044 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,055,000 after purchasing an additional 3,107,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Vodafone Group Public by 345.2% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,026,713 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,786,000 after purchasing an additional 2,346,815 shares in the last quarter. 7.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on VOD shares. UBS Group cut shares of Vodafone Group Public from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Vodafone Group Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Vodafone Group Public Trading Up 1.0 %

Vodafone Group Public stock opened at $8.77 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.65 and a 200-day moving average of $9.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Vodafone Group Public Limited has a twelve month low of $8.02 and a twelve month high of $10.39.

Vodafone Group Public Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.2423 per share. This represents a yield of 8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd.

Vodafone Group Public 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.