Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 6,345 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Foster & Motley Inc. cut its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 239,417 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,345 shares during the period. Kroger makes up approximately 1.0% of Foster & Motley Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $14,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth $34,000. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 1,628.1% in the 4th quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 218.8% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth about $43,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on KR shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Roth Mkm raised their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % 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 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $61.13 on Thursday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $44.48 and a 12 month high of $63.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.26 and a 200-day moving average of $56.96. 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 $44.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board 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.