The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Maj Invest Holding A S

Maj Invest Holding A S trimmed its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 24.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,241,804 shares of the company’s stock after selling 736,132 shares during the period. Kroger accounts for approximately 4.5% of Maj Invest Holding A S’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Maj Invest Holding A S owned approximately 0.31% of Kroger worth $137,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Kroger by 11,570.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,706,398 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 96.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Kroger by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after buying an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in Kroger by 110.5% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,828,000 after buying an additional 1,876,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Kroger by 13.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after acquiring an additional 917,923 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.80.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $58.68 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.83. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $44.48 and a twelve month high of $63.59. The company has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Profile

The Kroger Co operates as a food and drug retailer in the United States. The company operates combination food and drug stores, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouses. Its combination food and drug stores offer natural food and organic sections, pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce; and multi-department stores provide apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living, electronics, automotive products, and toys.