Wolverine Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Position in KKR & Co. Inc. $KKR

Key Points

• Wolverine Asset Management LLC cut its stake in KKR by 88.6% in Q4, selling 33,326 shares and leaving 4,279 shares worth about $545,000.
• KKR's board authorized a $500 million buyback (≈0.5% of shares) and raised the quarterly dividend to $0.195, while insiders including CEO Joseph Bae bought sizable positions, signaling management confidence.
• KKR beat Q1 earnings estimates with accelerating fee and AUM growth, but management warned that 2026 profit targets may face headwinds amid a murky deal environment.

Wolverine Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR - Free Report) by 88.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,279 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 33,326 shares during the quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC's holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. were worth $545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Covenant Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 1,424.8% during the third quarter. Covenant Asset Management LLC now owns 29,826 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,876,000 after purchasing an additional 27,870 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 5.2% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,313,857 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $170,736,000 after purchasing an additional 65,178 shares in the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd boosted its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 816.2% during the third quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 25,791 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,352,000 after purchasing an additional 22,976 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. boosted its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 5,405.9% during the third quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 144,970 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $18,839,000 after purchasing an additional 142,337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 63.2% during the third quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 98,983 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $12,862,000 after purchasing an additional 38,322 shares in the last quarter. 76.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KKR & Co. Inc. Price Performance

Shares of KKR opened at $100.85 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $89.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.85. KKR & Co. Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.67 and a twelve month high of $153.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $94.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.85.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The asset manager reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter. KKR & Co. Inc. had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 5.50%. As a group, analysts predict that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KKR & Co. Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the asset manager to reacquire up to 0.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

KKR & Co. Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.195 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This is an increase from KKR & Co. Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. KKR & Co. Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 31.62%.

Key Headlines Impacting KKR & Co. Inc.

Here are the key news stories impacting KKR & Co. Inc. this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 earnings beat and healthy AUM/fee growth — KKR posted results above estimates with accelerating fee revenue and assets under management growth (AUM up year-over-year), supporting the firm’s fee-income durability and monetization momentum. KKR beats estimates on strong fee growth and capital deployment
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase — KKR raised its quarterly dividend to $0.195 (5.4% increase), signaling confidence in cash flow and returning more capital to shareholders; ex-dividend date May 15.
• Positive Sentiment: $500M buyback authorization — The Board approved repurchases up to $500M (about 0.5% of shares outstanding), which can support the share price and signals management thinks shares are attractively valued. Stock Buybacks
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullish moves — UBS raised its target to $126 with a Buy rating (largest upside among recent changes); TD Cowen nudged its target to $106. These upgrades provide third‑party validation of KKR’s recovery in fee and deployment metrics. Analyst Coverage Updates TD Cowen Price Target Raised
• Neutral Sentiment: Other analyst target tweaks — RBC and Barclays trimmed their targets modestly but kept outperform/overweight stances, leaving overall analyst sentiment mixed rather than uniformly negative. Analyst Target Changes
• Negative Sentiment: Cautious guidance on 2026 profits and deal outlook — Management warned that 2026 profit targets face headwinds amid a murky deal environment; that caution and commentary about deal-market visibility are tempering enthusiasm from the earnings beat. KKR warns on 2026 profit target amid murky outlook for deals

Insider Activity at KKR & Co. Inc.

In other KKR & Co. Inc. news, CEO Joseph Y. Bae bought 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 completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 509,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,040,972.83. This trade represents a 32.53% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Timothy R. Barakett bought 50,000 shares of KKR & Co. Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $94.47 per share, with a total value of $4,723,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 285,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,923,950. The trade was a 21.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 393,872 shares of company stock valued at $40,090,679. 23.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on KKR. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $125.00 to $106.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $187.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. 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. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, KKR & Co. Inc. presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.