Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 64,687 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 747,492 shares of the company’s stock after selling 64,687 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $45,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 11,570.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,398 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Kroger by 96.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after buying an additional 2,643,811 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after buying an additional 2,110,681 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $204,828,000 after buying an additional 1,876,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 698.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,878,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643,307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KR. BNP Paribas started coverage on Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.93.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $58.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $44.48 and a one year high of $63.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $60.26 and its 200 day moving average is $56.46.

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

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares 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.