Morgan Stanley Upgrades KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) to Overweight

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) was upgraded by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $150.00 price objective on the asset manager’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $120.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 19.60% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on KKR. Hsbc Global Res raised KKR & Co. Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on KKR & Co. Inc. from $183.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays raised their price target on KKR & Co. Inc. from $129.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on KKR & Co. Inc. from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on KKR & Co. Inc. from $120.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $149.14.

KKR & Co. Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of KKR stock opened at $125.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $111.94 and a 200 day moving average of $135.77. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 52 week low of $86.15 and a 52 week high of $170.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. KKR & Co. Inc. had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 67.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at KKR & Co. Inc.

In other news, major shareholder Genetic Disorder L.P. Kkr sold 6,000,000 shares of KKR & Co. Inc. stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.20, for a total value of $205,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,260,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $453,525,208.20. The trade was a 31.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert W. Scully purchased 13,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $113.49 per share, with a total value of $1,503,742.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,250 shares in the company, valued at $1,503,742.50. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 39.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KKR & Co. Inc.

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 430 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,427 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,430,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,721 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,289 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 10,974 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,623,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 76.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.