Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR)

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 9,153 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 83% compared to the average volume of 4,993 call options.

KKR & Co. Inc. Price Performance

Shares of KKR opened at $95.84 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.27. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.79 and a 1-year high of $103.48. The company has a market cap of $84.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.61.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The asset manager reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. KKR & Co. Inc. had a net margin of 25.74% and a return on equity of 4.21%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.64 million. On average, research analysts forecast that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KKR & Co. Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. KKR & Co. Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 16.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on KKR shares. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $107.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on KKR & Co. Inc. from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on KKR & Co. Inc. from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 target price on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Kkr Group Partnership L.P. sold 13,800,000 shares of KKR & Co. Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.87, for a total transaction of $136,206,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Kkr Group Partnership L.P. sold 13,800,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.87, for a total value of $136,206,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Kkr Alternative Assets Llc bought 571,429 shares of KKR & Co. Inc. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.00 per share, for a total transaction of $14,285,725.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 1,000,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,017,175. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 39.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KKR & Co. Inc.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KKR. MetLife Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in KKR & Co. Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $650,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 0.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,357,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $79,368,000 after purchasing an additional 7,332 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $699,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,890 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in KKR & Co. Inc. by 25.6% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 12,666 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,582 shares during the period. 76.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KKR & Co. Inc. Company Profile

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.