LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Stock Holdings Lessened by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,506,394 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 92,883 shares during the quarter. LKQ accounts for approximately 1.7% of River Road Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $128,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its position in shares of LKQ by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 44,169 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in LKQ by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,256 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in LKQ by 81.0% in the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in LKQ by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of LKQ by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 12,368 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at LKQ

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 369,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,352,356.68. The trade was a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,416,300. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LKQ shares. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, LKQ presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.60.

LKQ Stock Up 1.5 %

LKQ stock opened at $44.05 on Tuesday. LKQ Co. has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $53.68. The stock has a market cap of $11.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81 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. The company’s 50 day moving average is $38.69 and its 200 day moving average is $38.90.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.80%.

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.