Transform Wealth LLC Sells 1,266 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Transform Wealth LLC decreased its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,880 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,266 shares during the quarter. Transform Wealth LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KR. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 15,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $954,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 5,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Clarius Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 7,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J2 Capital Management Inc bought a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $817,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Trading Down 0.5 %

KR opened at $58.34 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.48. 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 Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $44.48 and a 12 month high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.93.

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.