Martingale Asset Management L P Sells 36,706 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Martingale Asset Management L P lowered its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 486,049 shares of the company's stock after selling 36,706 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P owned about 0.07% of Kroger worth $29,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Kroger by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth $566,000. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,210,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 0.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company's stock worth $353,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on KR. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.50.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total transaction of $719,070.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 127,106 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,308,919.22. This represents a 7.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 258,785 shares of company stock worth $17,476,866. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Kroger Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE KR traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $69.09. 2,171,933 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,630,827. The stock has a market cap of $45.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.38. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $49.04 and a one year high of $71.93.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. On average, analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio is 34.88%.

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.