Bridgewater Associates LP Trims Stock Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Bridgewater Associates LP trimmed its stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 22.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 101,695 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 29,967 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in LKQ were worth $3,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of LKQ. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in LKQ in the fourth quarter worth about $91,678,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of LKQ by 112.9% in the 4th 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 lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 11.0% in 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 period. Islay Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in LKQ in the fourth quarter worth $559,000. Finally, Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new position in LKQ in the fourth quarter worth $367,000. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LKQ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, LKQ presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $180,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 369,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,352,356.68. This trade represents a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,864,350. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

LKQ Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $42.03 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.12. LKQ Co. has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-week high of $49.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.04 and a beta of 1.09.

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

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. LKQ’s payout ratio is 45.80%.

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.