Insider Selling: LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Director Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.66, for a total transaction of $416,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 359,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,975,186.92. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

LKQ Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $40.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.71 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 $10.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $37.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.76.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. On average, analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. LKQ’s payout ratio is 45.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on LKQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, LKQ currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.60.

Institutional Trading of LKQ

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in LKQ by 112.9% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 42,563 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,564,000 after acquiring an additional 22,575 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 11.0% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group acquired a new position in LKQ during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $634,000. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in LKQ by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 833,015 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $30,613,000 after purchasing an additional 184,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in LKQ by 27,310.6% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 64,415 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,571,000 after buying an additional 64,180 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.