Jennison Associates LLC Purchases 4,306,290 Shares of KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR)

Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) by 4,918.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,393,841 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,306,290 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. were worth $507,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KKR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,687,516 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,384,650,000 after buying an additional 441,817 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 14.3% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,081,760 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,206,042,000 after purchasing an additional 2,391,434 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in KKR & Co. Inc. by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,047,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,073,624,000 after acquiring an additional 458,048 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,003,389 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,775,421,000 after buying an additional 752,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,435,314,000. 76.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert W. Scully purchased 13,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $113.49 per share, for a total transaction of $1,503,742.50. Following the purchase, the director owned 13,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,503,742.50. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Henry R. Kravis sold 130,925 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.67, for a total transaction of $15,929,644.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 73,006,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,882,642,696.74. This trade represents a 0.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,471,488 shares of company stock worth $501,529,092 in the last ninety days. 39.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KKR & Co. Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:KKR opened at $147.28 on Friday. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.15 and a 1 year high of $170.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $127.63 and a 200-day moving average of $128.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.88.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. KKR & Co. Inc. had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 6.43%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. KKR & Co. Inc.’s quarterly revenue was down 67.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KKR & Co. Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a $0.185 dividend. This is a positive change from KKR & Co. Inc.’s previous dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.64%. KKR & Co. Inc.’s payout ratio is 31.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on KKR shares. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on KKR & Co. Inc. in a research note on Monday, June 30th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on KKR & Co. Inc. from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citizens Jmp lowered KKR & Co. Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup lowered KKR & Co. Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on KKR & Co. Inc. from $214.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.33.

About KKR & Co. Inc.

KKR & Co, Inc operates as an investment firm. It offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. The firm’s business segments include Asset Management and Insurance Business. The Asset Management segment engages in providing private equity, real assets, credit and liquid strategies, capital markets, and principal activities.