Traynor Capital Management Inc. Increases Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Traynor Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,335 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. Traynor Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Kroger by 40.7% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 90,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,498,000 after acquiring an additional 26,079 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 8.5% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 121,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,078,000 after purchasing an additional 9,517 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 26,287.1% during the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 8,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 8,149 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 95.2% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 23,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after buying an additional 11,491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position 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 buying an additional 1,643,307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger 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 transaction of $1,556,446.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas began coverage on Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.14.

Kroger Stock Down 0.4 %

KR opened at $58.78 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.72. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $44.48 and a 12 month high of $63.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

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

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Kroger

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.