The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 747,492 shares of the company's stock after selling 64,687 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.10% of Kroger worth $45,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 20.0% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 10,565 shares of the company's stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 1,760 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,288,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Kroger by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 380,991 shares of the company's stock worth $19,023,000 after acquiring an additional 12,447 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in Kroger by 5.0% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 27,202 shares of the company's stock worth $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 21.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 87,012 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,345,000 after purchasing an additional 15,529 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR traded down $0.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $58.34. The stock had a trading volume of 5,510,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,796,880. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48. 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 twelve month low of $44.48 and a twelve month high of $63.59. The company's 50-day moving average price is $60.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.48.

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

Kroger announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on KR. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Melius Research started coverage on Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a "hold" rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.93.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.