Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Increases Holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 149.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 63,365 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 37,928 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $2,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 0.3% during the 3rd 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 grew 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 acquiring an additional 134,176 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised 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 valued at $309,609,000 after purchasing an additional 833,519 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $260,330,000 after purchasing an additional 21,161 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,020,689 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $240,346,000 after purchasing an additional 411,390 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on LKQ. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $184,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 374,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,795,180.08. This represents a 1.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

LKQ Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKQ opened at $38.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.45. LKQ Co. has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $53.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.01. LKQ had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 15.15%. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.78%.

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.