LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Stock Position Decreased by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. decreased its position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 105,670 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 774 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $3,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its holdings in LKQ by 81.0% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of LKQ by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,256 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in LKQ by 618.0% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,673 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in LKQ during the third quarter worth approximately $81,000. Finally, 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 valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 369,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,352,356.68. This represents a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300 over the last ninety days. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

LKQ Price Performance

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $40.91 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.91. LKQ Co. has a fifty-two week low of $35.56 and a fifty-two week high of $53.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. LKQ’s payout ratio is 45.80%.

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.