Norges Bank Makes New Investment in KKR & Co. Inc. $KKR

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 13,460,378 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,715,929,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KKR. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 109.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,661 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,437 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $218,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. United Bank purchased a new stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $769,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,826,000. 76.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy R. Barakett bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $94.47 per share, with a total value of $4,723,500.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 285,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,923,950. This trade represents a 21.28% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 23.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $145.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays decreased 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 report on Wednesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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 report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $113.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, KKR & Co. Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.53.

KKR & Co. Inc. Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of KKR stock opened at $96.00 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $96.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.12. KKR & Co. Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.67 and a twelve month high of $153.87. The company has a market capitalization of $86.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.65, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The asset manager reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter. KKR & Co. Inc. had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 5.42%. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter. Research analysts forecast that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KKR & Co. Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the asset manager to buy up to 0.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

KKR & Co. Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.195 dividend. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This is a positive change from KKR & Co. Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. KKR & Co. Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.53%.

KKR & Co. Inc. 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.