Tredje AP fonden Trims Stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Tredje AP fonden trimmed its stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 50.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,037 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 21,036 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in LKQ were worth $773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora raised its stake in LKQ by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 44,169 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of LKQ by 31.2% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,256 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 81.0% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in LKQ by 9.3% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in LKQ by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 12,368 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction 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 $13,352,356.68. This trade represents a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,416,300 in the last 90 days. 0.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LKQ Stock Performance

LKQ stock opened at $41.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.71. LKQ Co. has a one year low of $35.56 and a one year high of $53.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $39.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 1.27.

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

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.80%.

About LKQ

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.