Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Increases Stake in KKR & Co. Inc. $KKR

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) by 152.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 174,004 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 105,070 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. were worth $22,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in KKR & Co. Inc. in the third quarter worth $535,907,000. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new stake in KKR & Co. Inc. in the third quarter worth $352,038,000. Close Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in KKR & Co. Inc. by 4,155.1% in the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,515,299 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $196,845,000 after purchasing an additional 1,479,688 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,064,587 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,657,034,000 after acquiring an additional 821,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 3,981.9% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 718,536 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $91,599,000 after acquiring an additional 700,933 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other KKR & Co. Inc. news, Director Timothy R. Barakett purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 285,000 shares in the company, valued at $26,923,950. This trade represents a 21.28% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 23.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

KKR & Co. Inc. Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of NYSE:KKR opened at $92.95 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $83.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 1 year low of $82.67 and a 1 year high of $153.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.42.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The asset manager reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter. KKR & Co. Inc. had a return on equity of 5.42% and a net margin of 13.94%. Sell-side analysts expect that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

KKR & Co. Inc. declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the asset manager to reacquire up to 0.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

KKR & Co. Inc. Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on KKR. HSBC raised KKR & Co. Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. UBS Group increased their target price on KKR & Co. Inc. from $113.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised KKR & Co. Inc. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 25th. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.53.

About KKR & Co. Inc.

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.