KKR & Co. ( KKR ) shares slipped in Thursday's premarket session as investor sentiment weakened following a sharp price forecast cut from BMO Capital, underscoring growing concerns over rising defaults in the private credit market.

The decline comes even as KKR moves to lock in a multibillion-dollar win from the sale of CoolIT Systems.

BMO Price Forecast Cut

The downward move follows a sharp price forecast revision from BMO Capital, which lowered its forecast from $125 to $106 on March 24. The cut highlights a cooling sentiment toward the private credit market amid rising defaults across the sector.

KKR Seals $4.75B CoolIT Exit

KKR has agreed to sell data center cooling firm CoolIT Systems to Ecolab Inc. ( ECL ) in a $4.75 billion deal, generating an estimated 15x return on invested equity.

All 650 employees will receive cash payouts tied to ownership stakes, with compensation ranging from about one year to more than eight years of annual pay.

KKR acquired CoolIT in 2023 and expanded its operations amid rising AI-driven demand for energy-efficient data center cooling. The company's liquid cooling technology reduces energy use by roughly 30% to 40% compared with traditional systems.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approvals.

Technical Analysis

Currently, KKR is trading 0.73% below its 20-day simple moving average (SMA) and 14.71% below its 100-day SMA, indicating bearish momentum in the short to medium term. Shares have decreased by 25.56% over the past 12 months and are currently positioned closer to their 52-week lows than highs.

The RSI is at 38.81, which is considered neutral territory, suggesting that the stock is neither overbought nor oversold. Meanwhile, the MACD shows a value of -3.4700, with the signal line at -4.5705, indicating bullish momentum as the MACD is above the signal line.

The combination of neutral RSI and bullish MACD suggests mixed momentum for KKR, indicating that while there may be some positive signals, the overall trend remains uncertain.

Key Resistance: $90.00

Key Support: $82.50

Earnings & Analyst Outlook

KKR is slated to provide its next financial update on April 30, 2026 (estimated).

EPS Estimate: $1.37 (Up from $1.15)

Revenue Estimate: $1.97 billion (Up from $1.77 billion)

Valuation: P/E of 38.0x (Indicates premium valuation)

Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Buy Rating with an average price target of $146.59. Recent analyst moves include:

BMO Capital: Outperform (Lowers Target to $106.00) (Mar. 24)

Barclays: Overweight (Lowers Target to $127.00) (Mar. 2)

RBC Capital: Initiated with Outperform (Target $137.00) (Feb. 24)

Top ETF Exposure

Akre Focus ETF ( AKRE ) : 8.68% Weight

VanEck Alternative Asset Manager ETF ( GPZ ) : 9.25% Weight

FM Focus Equity ETF ( FMCX ) : 5.43% Weight

Significance: Because KKR carries such a heavy weight in these funds, any significant inflows or outflows for these ETFs will likely force automatic buying or selling of the stock.

KKR Price Action: KKR shares were down 1.01% at $88.01 during premarket trading on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.