KKR & Co. Inc. $KKR Shares Sold by Northern Trust Corp

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has sold 303,182 shares of KKR & Co. Inc., reducing its holdings by 4.9% in the first quarter, now owning 5,847,454 shares valued at approximately $676 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Jennison Associates LLC, have increased their stakes in KKR, reflecting strong interest among large investors.
• KKR & Co. Inc. recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.185 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $0.74, up from the previous dividend of $0.18.

Northern Trust Corp cut its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR - Free Report) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,847,454 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 303,182 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.66% of KKR & Co. Inc. worth $676,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in KKR & Co. Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 44.6% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 360 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. 76.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on KKR. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in a research report on Monday, July 14th. HSBC cut KKR & Co. Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $142.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on KKR & Co. Inc. from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded KKR & Co. Inc. from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $120.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on KKR & Co. Inc. from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KKR & Co. Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $157.73.

KKR & Co. Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE KKR traded up $3.8310 on Friday, hitting $141.6710. 4,084,502 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,227,708. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $139.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.54. KKR & Co. Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $86.15 and a fifty-two week high of $170.40. The firm has a market cap of $126.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.87.

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. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.81 billion. KKR & Co. Inc. had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 12.95%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

KKR & Co. Inc. Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at KKR & Co. Inc.

In related news, Chairman George R. Roberts sold 809,906 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.25, for a total value of $116,828,940.50. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Henry R. Kravis sold 130,925 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.67, for a total value of $15,929,644.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 73,006,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,882,642,696.74. The trade was a 0.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,281,394 shares of company stock worth $413,158,033 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 39.34% of the company's stock.

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.