Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Takes $123.83 Million Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,025,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $123,829,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned 0.28% of Kroger as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $598,390,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,054,824 shares of the company's stock worth $431,402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,259 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1,045.0% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,562,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426,131 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $68,581,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,359,918 shares of the company's stock worth $205,459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090,440 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $2,162,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 97,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,043,905.59. This represents a 23.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 334,923 shares of company stock worth $22,867,124 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Kroger stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $72.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,684,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,610,545. The business has a fifty day moving average of $67.63 and a 200 day moving average of $63.06. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $49.04 and a 1-year high of $73.63. 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 company has a market capitalization of $48.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger's payout ratio is 34.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on KR. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Melius Research lowered Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.06.

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.