Marshall Wace LLP Has $9.05 Million Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Marshall Wace LLP lessened its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 63.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 147,944 shares of the company's stock after selling 261,397 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in Kroger were worth $9,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 334,923 shares of company stock valued at $22,867,124. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on KR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup upped their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price target on Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.50.

Kroger Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:KR traded up $0.37 on Monday, hitting $70.37. 6,515,652 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,543,701. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.50. 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 52 week low of $49.04 and a 52 week high of $73.63. The company has a market cap of $46.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $34.96 billion. As a group, analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Kroger's 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.