Kennedy Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 14,626 Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CROX)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CROX) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,626 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,103,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Crocs by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,572,643 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $801,346,000 after buying an additional 76,460 shares during the period. WIT Partners Advisory Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Crocs during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $266,431,000. Coatue Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crocs by 836.7% during the fourth quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 1,029,765 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $96,190,000 after acquiring an additional 919,835 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Crocs during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,211,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Crocs by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 770,281 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $71,952,000 after acquiring an additional 245,240 shares in the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CROX. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Crocs from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Crocs from $148.00 to $146.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays upped their price target on Crocs from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Williams Trading reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 price target (down previously from $135.00) on shares of Crocs in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Crocs in a report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Crocs presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $152.82.

Crocs Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CROX traded up $1.68 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $134.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 538,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,342,838. The firm has a market cap of $8.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $145.90 and a 200-day moving average of $131.08. Crocs, Inc. has a 12 month low of $74.00 and a 12 month high of $165.32.

Crocs (NASDAQ:CROX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The textile maker reported $3.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.77. Crocs had a return on equity of 56.33% and a net margin of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $938.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.61 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Crocs, Inc. will post 12.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas J. Smach sold 10,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.32, for a total transaction of $1,427,615.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 115,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,184,368.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Andrew Rees sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.15, for a total transaction of $1,601,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 79,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,771,642.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Smach sold 10,174 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.32, for a total value of $1,427,615.68. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 115,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,184,368.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,178 shares of company stock valued at $4,597,445 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

About Crocs

Crocs, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells casual lifestyle footwear and accessories for men, women, and children under Crocs and HEYDUDE Brand in the United States and internationally. The company offers various footwear products, including clogs, sandals, slides, flips, wedges, platforms, socks, boots, charms, flip flops, sneakers, and slippers.