Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases New Shares in KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,576 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $462,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KKR. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 297.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,072,541 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $312,469,000 after buying an additional 3,794,837 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,941,257 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,460,381,000 after purchasing an additional 475,118 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 215.5% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 340,882 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,242,000 after purchasing an additional 232,821 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in KKR & Co. Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $14,838,000. Finally, Factory Mutual Insurance Co. acquired a new position in KKR & Co. Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $14,084,000. 76.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at KKR & Co. Inc.

In other news, major shareholder Kkr Group Partnership L.P. sold 13,800,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.87, for a total value of $136,206,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Kkr Alternative Assets Llc bought 571,429 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.00 per share, for a total transaction of $14,285,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,000,687 shares in the company, valued at $25,017,175. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Kkr Group Partnership L.P. sold 13,800,000 shares of KKR & Co. Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.87, for a total transaction of $136,206,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 39.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KKR & Co. Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KKR opened at $99.56 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $97.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.27. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.79 and a 52 week high of $103.48. The stock has a market cap of $88.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.62.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The asset manager reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. KKR & Co. Inc. had a net margin of 19.38% and a return on equity of 4.45%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.64 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KKR & Co. Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.175 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. This is a positive change from KKR & Co. Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. KKR & Co. Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on KKR shares. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $154.00 to $148.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on KKR & Co. Inc. from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on KKR & Co. Inc. from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price objective on KKR & Co. Inc. from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.00.

KKR & Co. Inc. Profile

KKR & Co Inc is a private equity and real estate investment firm specializing in direct and fund of fund investments. It specializes in acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, credit special situations, growth equity, mature, mezzanine, distressed, turnaround, lower middle market and middle market investments.