Morgan Stanley Cuts KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) Price Target to $153.00

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $153.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on KKR. 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 report on Monday, April 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $135.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $125.00 to $106.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $145.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.20.

KKR & Co. Inc. Stock Down 3.9%

Shares of KKR & Co. Inc. stock opened at $101.75 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.07. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 1 year low of $82.67 and a 1 year high of $153.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $94.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.05. The stock has a market cap of $90.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.48, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.93.

KKR & Co. Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. KKR & Co. Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 31.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Joseph Y. Bae acquired 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $102.19 per share, with a total value of $12,773,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 509,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,040,972.83. This represents a 32.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy R. Barakett acquired 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $94.47 per share, for a total transaction of $4,723,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 285,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,923,950. The trade was a 21.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders bought 393,872 shares of company stock worth $40,090,679 in the last quarter. 23.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KKR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,715,929,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in KKR & Co. Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $535,907,000. Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new stake in KKR & Co. Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $352,038,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in KKR & Co. Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $257,216,000. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in KKR & Co. Inc. by 4,155.1% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.26% of the company’s stock.

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.