North Dakota State Investment Board Takes $2.96 Million Position in KKR & Co. Inc. $KKR

North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new stake in KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 23,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,964,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KKR. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 2,549 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 5,562 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,789 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 3,189 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. 76.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KKR & Co. Inc. news, Director Timothy R. Barakett bought 50,000 shares of KKR & Co. Inc. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $94.47 per share, with a total value of $4,723,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 285,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,923,950. The trade was a 21.28% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 23.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KKR & Co. Inc. Trading Down 1.0%

KKR opened at $96.01 on Tuesday. KKR & Co. Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $82.67 and a fifty-two week high of $153.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.66, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.85. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $95.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.60.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) last posted 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 for the quarter. As a group, research analysts predict that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

KKR & Co. Inc. announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the asset manager to purchase up to 0.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

KKR & Co. Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.195 per share. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This is a positive change from KKR & Co. Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. KKR & Co. Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 26.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on KKR shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 25th. HSBC raised shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in a report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on KKR & Co. Inc. from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on KKR & Co. Inc. from $113.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.53.

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.