King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 940 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

King Luther Capital Management Corp decreased its position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,698 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 940 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in LKQ were worth $2,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LKQ. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in LKQ during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,733,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LKQ in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,363,000. Seizert Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 451.1% in the third quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,327,664 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $53,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,086,758 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased 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 period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in LKQ by 68.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,210,661 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $44,492,000 after acquiring an additional 492,356 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $184,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 374,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,795,180.08. This trade represents a 1.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LKQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. StockNews.com lowered LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.60.

LKQ Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ LKQ opened at $42.54 on Thursday. LKQ Co. has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $53.68. The company has a market capitalization of $11.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $38.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Equities analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.