Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Trims Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 377,216 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 2,930 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in LKQ were worth $13,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKQ. 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 worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in LKQ by 618.0% during 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 period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of LKQ during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $81,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 107.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,815 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Price Performance

LKQ stock opened at $39.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.15. LKQ Co. has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $46.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.16 billion, a PE ratio of 15.02 and a beta of 1.09.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.79. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.78%.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total value of $634,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 336,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,225,233.20. The trade was a 4.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Justin L. Jude acquired 2,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $36.99 per share, for a total transaction of $100,168.92. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 280,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,385,941.23. The trade was a 0.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,054,450 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LKQ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.60.

LKQ 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.