KKR & Co. Inc. $KKR Shares Bought by ABC Arbitrage SA

Key Points

• ABC Arbitrage SA boosted its stake in KKR & Co. Inc. by 50.7% in the fourth quarter, ending with 39,769 shares valued at about $5.07 million.
• KKR announced a $500 million share repurchase program, which would allow it to buy back up to 0.5% of its outstanding stock and may signal management sees the shares as undervalued.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.195 per share, while insiders recently bought more stock and analysts currently rate KKR a Moderate Buy on average.

ABC Arbitrage SA grew its stake in KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR - Free Report) by 50.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,769 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 13,384 shares during the quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA's holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. were worth $5,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,064,587 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $7,657,034,000 after purchasing an additional 821,739 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. by 1.4% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,642,005 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $603,229,000 after buying an additional 65,695 shares during the last quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in KKR & Co. Inc. in the third quarter valued at $535,907,000. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new stake in KKR & Co. Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $352,038,000. Finally, CI Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 1,745,345 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $226,808,000 after buying an additional 179,793 shares during the last quarter. 76.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KKR & Co. Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of KKR stock opened at $99.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.85. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.67 and a 52-week high of $153.87. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $94.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 27th. The asset manager reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter. KKR & Co. Inc. had a return on equity of 5.50% and a net margin of 13.94%.The company had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

KKR & Co. Inc. announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 5th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the asset manager to repurchase up to 0.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

KKR & Co. Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.195 per share. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This is an increase from KKR & Co. Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. KKR & Co. Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 25.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott C. Nuttall purchased 125,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $102.66 per share, with a total value of $12,832,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,503,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,591,614,769.68. This trade represents a 0.81% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Joseph Y. Bae acquired 125,000 shares of KKR & Co. Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $102.19 per share, with a total value of $12,773,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 509,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,040,972.83. This trade represents a 32.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have purchased a total of 343,872 shares of company stock worth $34,844,179 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 23.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KKR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on KKR & Co. Inc. from $125.00 to $106.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on KKR & Co. Inc. from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, January 25th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $135.00 to $117.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $134.67.

KKR & Co. Inc. Company Profile

KKR & Co Inc is a global investment firm headquartered in New York City that specializes in private markets and alternative asset management. Founded in 1976 by Jerome Kohlberg Jr., Henry Kravis and George R. Roberts, the firm built its reputation in leveraged buyouts and has since expanded into a multi-strategy asset manager. KKR operates across private equity, credit, real assets (including real estate and infrastructure), growth equity and hedge fund strategies, offering a range of investment products and strategies for institutional and private investors.

KKR manages capital through traditional closed-end funds as well as customized vehicles such as separate accounts, co-investments, and listed investment vehicles.

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