Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Stake in Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its stake in Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) by 12.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,767 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Grocery Outlet were worth $480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 834,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,025,000 after buying an additional 83,043 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Grocery Outlet in the 4th quarter worth $1,079,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 53.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 5,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 2,034 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 16,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 1,408 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Grocery Outlet in the 4th quarter worth $704,000. 99.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GO. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Craig Hallum raised Grocery Outlet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley raised Grocery Outlet from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $13.00 to $16.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Grocery Outlet from $14.50 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Grocery Outlet in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.08.

Insider Activity at Grocery Outlet

In related news, EVP Steven K. Wilson sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.20, for a total transaction of $384,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 146,923 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,921.60. The trade was a 11.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Grocery Outlet Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:GO opened at $18.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. has a 12 month low of $10.26 and a 12 month high of $21.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $14.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.31. The company has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 261.89, a PEG ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.27.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Grocery Outlet had a net margin of 0.18% and a return on equity of 6.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

About Grocery Outlet

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. operates as a retailer of consumables and fresh products sold through independently operated stores in the United States. Its stores offer products in various categories, such as dairy and deli, produce, floral, fresh meat, seafood products, grocery, general merchandise, health and beauty care, frozen food, beer and wine, and ethnic products.