Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Buys 4,869 Shares of KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC boosted its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR - Free Report) by 198.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,322 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 4,869 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC's holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. were worth $847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in KKR & Co. Inc. by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,687,516 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $8,384,650,000 after buying an additional 441,817 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,047,900 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,073,624,000 after purchasing an additional 458,048 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,003,389 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,775,421,000 after purchasing an additional 752,056 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,435,314,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 106.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.26% of the company's stock.

KKR & Co. Inc. Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:KKR opened at $141.13 on Friday. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.15 and a 1 year high of $170.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.70 billion, a PE ratio of 59.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.02. KKR & Co. Inc. had a return on equity of 6.43% and a net margin of 14.75%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 67.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.185 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from KKR & Co. Inc.'s previous dividend of $0.17. KKR & Co. Inc.'s payout ratio is 31.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KKR & Co. Inc.

In other news, major shareholder Genetic Disorder L.P. Kkr sold 6,000,000 shares of KKR & Co. Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.20, for a total transaction of $205,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 13,260,971 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $453,525,208.20. The trade was a 31.15% 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, Chairman Henry R. Kravis sold 1,150,469 shares of KKR & Co. Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.80, for a total transaction of $137,826,186.20. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 73,006,022 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,746,121,435.60. This represents a 1.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,471,488 shares of company stock valued at $501,529,092. 39.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on KKR shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded KKR & Co. Inc. from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $120.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on KKR & Co. Inc. from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. HSBC lowered KKR & Co. Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $142.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on KKR & Co. Inc. from $132.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on KKR & Co. Inc. from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $155.20.

About KKR & Co. Inc.

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.

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