Castleview Partners LLC Purchases New Stake in KKR & Co. Inc. $KKR

Castleview Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 19,924 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,540,000. KKR & Co. Inc. comprises approximately 1.3% of Castleview Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KKR. Covenant Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 1,424.8% in the third quarter. Covenant Asset Management LLC now owns 29,826 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,876,000 after buying an additional 27,870 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,313,857 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $170,736,000 after acquiring an additional 65,178 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd grew its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 816.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 25,791 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,352,000 after acquiring an additional 22,976 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. by 5,405.9% in the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 144,970 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $18,839,000 after acquiring an additional 142,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,242,848 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,698,608,000 after acquiring an additional 585,893 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting KKR & Co. Inc.

Here are the key news stories impacting KKR & Co. Inc. this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KKR agreed to sell CoolIT Systems to Ecolab for $4.75 billion, a large realization that KKR says will generate roughly 15x the original equity invested — a material cash return that supports realized gains and potential distributable value. CoolIT Employees Share in $4.75 Billion Transaction as KKR Agrees to Sell to Ecolab
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage notes the CoolIT sale will deliver meaningful employee payouts (average reported ~$240k per employee) and highlights the size and success of the exit — a credibility boost for KKR’s deal sourcing and value-creation track record. KKR Scores One of Its Best Bets With Sale of Data-Center Cooling Business
• Positive Sentiment: WSJ reports KKR is acquiring Nothing Bundt Cakes for >$2 billion (including debt) — another sizable platform investment that signals continued deal flow and fee-generating opportunities in consumer franchising. KKR Strikes Deal for Nothing Bundt Cakes
• Neutral Sentiment: German satellite maker OHB is exploring a share sale that could allow KKR to trim its stake — potential liquidity for KKR but also a reduction in exposure to that asset. KKR-backed OHB taps banks for share sale, Bloomberg News reports
• Neutral Sentiment: BMO trimmed its price target for KKR from $125 to $106 but kept an “outperform” rating — a modest signal that near-term expectations are being dialed back even as the long-run view remains constructive. Benzinga
• Negative Sentiment: Moody’s downgraded a private credit fund run by KKR and Future Standard (FS KKR Capital Corp) into junk territory (Ba1) citing rising bad loans and weak earnings — a reputational and credit-quality headwind for KKR’s private credit franchise. Moody’s cuts rating on private credit fund run by KKR and Future Standard to junk as bad loans grow
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest in KKR rose materially in March (shorts up ~23% to ~10.9M shares), which can amplify downward price pressure and volatility as bearish positioning increases.
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz law firm issued an investor alert investigating potential claims against KKR — litigation risk that can weigh on sentiment until resolved. INVESTOR ALERT: Pomerantz-Law Firm Investigates Claims On Behalf of Investors of KKR & Co. Inc.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. HSBC raised shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $190.00 to $187.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $168.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $137.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.00.

KKR & Co. Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of KKR opened at $88.91 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 2.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.07 and a current ratio of 0.07. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.67 and a 52-week high of $153.87.

KKR & Co. Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. KKR & Co. Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy R. Barakett purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $94.47 per share, with a total value of $4,723,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 285,000 shares in the company, valued at $26,923,950. This represents a 21.28% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Matt Cohler acquired 43,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $102.90 per share, with a total value of $4,514,428.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 45,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,679,583.30. This trade represents a 2,733.46% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders bought 393,872 shares of company stock valued at $40,090,679. Corporate insiders own 23.20% of the company’s stock.

KKR & Co. Inc. Company Profile

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.