Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Lowers Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,016 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 544 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $240,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC grew its position in LKQ by 13.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,581 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of LKQ by 55.5% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 46,763 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 16,698 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of LKQ by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 426,454 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $21,114,000 after buying an additional 9,273 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in LKQ by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 21,003 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,040,000 after buying an additional 3,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in LKQ by 12.6% in the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,162 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 1,469 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In other news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total value of $10,394,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 386,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,087,548.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LKQ. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of LKQ from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, LKQ has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.60.

LKQ Trading Up 1.7 %

LKQ opened at $43.64 on Friday. LKQ Co. has a one year low of $41.30 and a one year high of $59.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 1.28.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto parts company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 15.94%. LKQ’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. Analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.96%.

LKQ Profile

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.