Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 60,804 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 17.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 403,875 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 60,804 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.06% of Kroger worth $24,697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $598,390,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 6.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,581,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 163.1% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,382,537 shares of the company's stock worth $79,219,000 after purchasing an additional 857,008 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.50.

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Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 5,541 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.79, for a total value of $392,247.39. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $246,349.20. This trade represents a 61.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 228,785 shares of company stock worth $15,393,666. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kroger Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE KR traded down $3.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $67.60. The stock had a trading volume of 9,296,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,173,536. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $64.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.72. The company has a market capitalization of $48.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a PEG 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 Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $71.83.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management 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.