Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of KKR & Co. Inc. Call Options (NYSE:KKR)

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 17,305 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 138% compared to the average volume of 7,281 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Genetic Disorder L.P. Kkr sold 5,800,000 shares of KKR & Co. Inc. stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.75, for a total transaction of $149,350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 25,260,971 shares in the company, valued at $650,470,003.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, major shareholder Kkr Group Partnership L.P. bought 11,619,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.13 per share, for a total transaction of $129,330,577.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,959,984 shares in the company, valued at $1,034,644,621.92. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Genetic Disorder L.P. Kkr sold 5,800,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.75, for a total transaction of $149,350,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,260,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $650,470,003.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 39.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of KKR & Co. Inc.

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KKR. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 42,808,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,546,708,000 after buying an additional 805,122 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in KKR & Co. Inc. by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,670,039 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,452,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,728,782 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in KKR & Co. Inc. by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 16,684,133 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,755,838,000 after acquiring an additional 996,871 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 16,644,897 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,674,144,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in KKR & Co. Inc. by 219.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,206,904 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,342,742,000 after purchasing an additional 11,134,363 shares in the last quarter. 76.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on KKR shares. StockNews.com raised shares of KKR & Co. Inc. to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Citigroup upped their target price on KKR & Co. Inc. from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on KKR & Co. Inc. in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Argus raised KKR & Co. Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 price objective (up previously from $125.00) on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.86.

KKR & Co. Inc. Stock Performance

KKR opened at $127.99 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.18. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.72 and a 52-week high of $128.79. The company has a market cap of $113.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.20. KKR & Co. Inc. had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 5.05%. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KKR & Co. Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.175 dividend. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. KKR & Co. Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.70%.

About KKR & Co. Inc.

KKR & Co Inc is a private equity and real estate investment firm specializing in direct and fund of fund investments. It specializes in acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, credit special situations, growth equity, mature, mezzanine, distressed, turnaround, lower middle market and middle market investments.