The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Acquired by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,801 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 4,864 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Kroger were worth $3,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company's stock worth $914,795,000 after buying an additional 126,303 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company's stock worth $387,456,000 after buying an additional 917,923 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company's stock worth $353,246,000 after buying an additional 37,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 96.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company's stock worth $268,689,000 after buying an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on KR shares. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.93.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $58.34. The company had a trading volume of 5,510,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,451,751. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The company has a market capitalization of $42.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $44.48 and a 12-month high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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