LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Shares Acquired by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council increased its holdings in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 23.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 446,173 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 85,394 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in LKQ were worth $16,397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LKQ. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in LKQ during the third quarter worth about $45,733,000. Seizert Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in LKQ by 451.1% during the third quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,327,664 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $53,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,086,758 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 833,519 shares during the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in LKQ in the 3rd quarter valued at about $19,889,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in LKQ by 68.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,210,661 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $44,492,000 after purchasing an additional 492,356 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 359,462 shares in the company, valued at $14,975,186.92. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 20,000 shares of company stock worth $781,500 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Price Performance

LKQ stock opened at $40.49 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.76. The company has a market capitalization of $10.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 1.29. LKQ Co. has a 1 year low of $35.56 and a 1 year high of $53.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.71.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on LKQ. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report 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 data from MarketBeat.com, LKQ has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.60.

LKQ Company 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.