LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Shares Acquired by Kensington Investment Counsel LLC

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 69,201 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,443 shares during the quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $2,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in LKQ by 0.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,977,708 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $478,150,000 after acquiring an additional 33,212 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,406,444 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $309,609,000 after purchasing an additional 833,519 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,542,740 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $260,330,000 after purchasing an additional 21,161 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 7.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,020,689 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $240,346,000 after purchasing an additional 411,390 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Stock Up 1.4 %

LKQ stock opened at $42.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12 and a beta of 1.28. LKQ Co. has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $53.68. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

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

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.80%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total transaction of $634,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 336,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,225,233.20. The trade was a 4.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,416,300 over the last three months. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.