Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 136,382 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,689,298 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 136,382 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $62,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 44,169 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,623,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,256 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 103,156 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,118,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $178,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $180,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 369,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,352,356.68. This represents a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,416,300. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

LKQ Price Performance

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $43.38 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. LKQ Co. has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $53.68. The company has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56 and a beta of 1.28.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on LKQ shares. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy 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 $52.60.

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.