Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. $KKR

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 186,142 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 7,855 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. were worth $23,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KKR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 821,739 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in KKR & Co. Inc. by 1.4% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,642,005 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $603,229,000 after purchasing an additional 65,695 shares during the last quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in KKR & Co. Inc. in the third quarter worth $535,907,000. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new position in KKR & Co. Inc. in the third quarter worth $352,038,000. Finally, CI Investments Inc. boosted its position in KKR & Co. Inc. by 11.5% in the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 1,745,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $226,808,000 after purchasing an additional 179,793 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.26% of the company’s stock.

KKR & Co. Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of KKR opened at $92.95 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.67 and a 52-week high of $153.87.

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

KKR & Co. Inc. declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the asset manager to repurchase up to 0.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

KKR & Co. Inc. Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy R. Barakett purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 purchase, the director directly owned 285,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,923,950. This trade represents a 21.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 23.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KKR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on 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. Oppenheimer dropped their target price 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $113.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays dropped their target price 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, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. One equities 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.