Blueshift Asset Management LLC Buys New Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 42,128 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,548,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in LKQ by 31.2% during 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. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of LKQ in the 3rd quarter valued at about $81,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total transaction of $634,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 336,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,225,233.20. This trade represents a 4.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LKQ. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LKQ currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.60.

LKQ Stock Down 1.6 %

LKQ stock opened at $41.55 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $39.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.94. LKQ Co. has a twelve month low of $35.56 and a twelve month high of $53.68. 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 stock has a market cap of $10.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 1.28.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Research analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.