Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 9,996 Shares of KKR & Co. Inc. $KKR

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in KKR & Co. Inc. by 45% during the 2nd quarter, now owning a total of 32,222 shares valued at $4.286 million.
• Chairman George R. Roberts sold 809,906 shares of KKR for over $116 million, reducing his ownership to approximately 81.36 million shares.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for KKR's stock, with Citigroup upgrading its price target to $170 while others have maintained or downgraded their ratings.

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR - Free Report) by 45.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,222 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 9,996 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. were worth $4,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in KKR & Co. Inc. by 790.3% in the 2nd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 276 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in KKR & Co. Inc. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in KKR & Co. Inc. by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 360 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SouthState Corp bought a new position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at KKR & Co. Inc.

In related news, Chairman George R. Roberts sold 809,906 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.25, for a total value of $116,828,940.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 81,361,978 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,736,465,326.50. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 39.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on KKR shares. Citizens Jmp lowered KKR & Co. Inc. from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $157.40.

KKR & Co. Inc. Stock Down 0.7%

KKR stock opened at $126.79 on Tuesday. KKR & Co. Inc. has a twelve month low of $86.15 and a twelve month high of $170.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $112.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.97, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.91. The business's 50-day moving average price is $140.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.58.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The asset manager reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

KKR & Co. Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.185 per share. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This is a positive change from KKR & Co. Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. KKR & Co. Inc.'s payout ratio is 34.42%.

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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