Kensington Investment Counsel LLC Purchases 1,443 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 69,201 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,443 shares during the quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $2,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in LKQ by 0.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,977,708 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $478,150,000 after buying an additional 33,212 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in LKQ by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,449,166 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $457,051,000 after buying an additional 134,176 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in LKQ by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,406,444 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $309,609,000 after buying an additional 833,519 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in LKQ by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,542,740 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $260,330,000 after buying an additional 21,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in LKQ by 7.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,020,689 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $240,346,000 after purchasing an additional 411,390 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total value of $634,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 336,135 shares in the company, valued at $14,225,233.20. The trade was a 4.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,416,300 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $42.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.12 and a beta of 1.28. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $39.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.92.

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

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on LKQ shares. 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 note on Friday, February 21st. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.60.

LKQ Company 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.