LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Shares Sold by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management trimmed its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,734 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 1,092 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in LKQ were worth $5,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in LKQ by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,245,966 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,497,478,000 after acquiring an additional 382,054 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,330,168 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $511,447,000 after buying an additional 540,259 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,907,659 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $490,528,000 after buying an additional 1,195,122 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,002,807 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $430,244,000 after buying an additional 383,031 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,292,994 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $349,407,000 after buying an additional 143,632 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LKQ Stock Down 0.8 %

LKQ stock traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $42.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,404,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,700,997. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 0.53. LKQ Co. has a 52-week low of $41.30 and a 52-week high of $59.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $50.97 and its 200 day moving average is $48.27. The company has a market cap of $11.45 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 1.28.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto parts company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LKQ news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total value of $10,394,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 386,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,087,548.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on LKQ. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of LKQ from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.60.

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.