366,600 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Acquired by APG Asset Management N.V.

APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 366,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,649,000. APG Asset Management N.V. owned approximately 0.05% of Kroger at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on KR shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.50.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.44, for a total value of $2,083,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 127,737 shares in the company, valued at $8,870,057.28. This represents a 19.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 258,785 shares of company stock valued at $17,476,866. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $68.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,466,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,355,434. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $71.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.11 billion, a PE ratio of 18.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $65.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.46.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $34.96 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. Kroger's payout ratio is 34.88%.

Kroger Company 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.