Ground Swell Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 4,001 KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR)

Key Points

• Ground Swell Capital LLC invested $463,000 in KKR & Co. Inc., acquiring 4,001 shares, which constitutes about 1.0% of their investment portfolio.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for KKR, with an average price target of $157.73, as multiple firms adjusted their ratings and price targets positively.
• KKR recently declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.185 per share, reflecting a boost from the previous dividend of $0.18, with a current payout ratio of 34.42%.

Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new stake in KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,001 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $463,000. KKR & Co. Inc. makes up about 1.0% of Ground Swell Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $844,137,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 4,918.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,393,841 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $507,972,000 after purchasing an additional 4,306,290 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 106.2% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,584,370 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $973,894,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391,581 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 14.3% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,081,760 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,206,042,000 after purchasing an additional 2,391,434 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 10,808.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,155,753 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $133,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145,158 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at KKR & Co. Inc.

In other KKR & Co. Inc. news, Director Timothy R. Barakett acquired 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $117.92 per share, with a total value of $4,127,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 185,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,815,200. The trade was a 23.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman George R. Roberts sold 809,906 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.25, for a total transaction of $116,828,940.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 81,361,978 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,736,465,326.50. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,281,394 shares of company stock valued at $413,158,033 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 39.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in a research report on Monday, June 30th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KKR & Co. Inc. has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $157.73.

KKR & Co. Inc. Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of NYSE KKR traded down $3.78 during trading on Friday, hitting $142.28. 2,943,624 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,262,633. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.15 and a 1 year high of $170.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $137.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $127.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.04. KKR & Co. Inc. had a net margin of 12.95% and a return on equity of 6.30%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

KKR & Co. Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from KKR & Co. Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. KKR & Co. Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.42%.

KKR & Co. Inc. Company Profile

KKR & Co, Inc operates as an investment firm. It offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. The firm's business segments include Asset Management and Insurance Business. The Asset Management segment engages in providing private equity, real assets, credit and liquid strategies, capital markets, and principal activities.