Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 573 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 78,201 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $2,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in LKQ by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings in shares of LKQ by 618.0% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,673 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in LKQ in the 3rd quarter valued at about $81,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in LKQ by 107.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in LKQ by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.15, for a total transaction of $632,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 321,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,535,840.25. This trade represents a 4.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,864,350. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LKQ presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.60.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $43.38 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.03. LKQ Co. has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $52.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.56 and a beta of 1.28.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. Equities research analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s payout ratio is presently 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.