Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 24,974 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,470,002 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,974 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Kroger were worth $89,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nwam LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth about $526,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 287,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,447,000 after acquiring an additional 70,009 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 57.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 537,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,820,000 after acquiring an additional 195,557 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 20.9% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 7,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 9.0% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 98,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,627,000 after purchasing an additional 8,139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. The trade was a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 223,244 shares of company stock valued at $15,001,418. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kroger Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of KR opened at $65.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $49.04 and a 52 week high of $68.51. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.04.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. On average, analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $58.00 price target on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.88.

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.