3,387 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Acquired by Walker Financial Services Inc.

Walker Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Kroger by 11,570.7% in the third 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. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 96.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after buying an additional 2,643,811 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Kroger by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in Kroger by 110.5% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876,397 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Kroger by 698.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,878,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,307 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was 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 directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $58.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $44.48 and a 52 week high of $63.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $60.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.53.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.93.

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.