LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,532,218 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 132,967 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of LKQ worth $1,158,809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of LKQ by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,449,166 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $457,051,000 after acquiring an additional 134,176 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of LKQ by 0.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 7.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,020,689 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $240,346,000 after buying an additional 411,390 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in LKQ by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,572,676 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $94,546,000 after buying an additional 84,244 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 approximately $14,225,233.20. This represents a 4.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Price Performance

LKQ stock opened at $41.40 on Friday. LKQ Co. has a one year low of $35.56 and a one year high of $53.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.73 billion, a PE ratio of 15.80 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 (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued 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. 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. On average, analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is 45.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.