Centiva Capital LP Boosts Holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Centiva Capital LP lifted its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 35.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 52,076 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 13,681 shares during the quarter. Centiva Capital LP’s holdings in LKQ were worth $1,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LKQ in the 4th quarter worth about $91,678,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of LKQ by 112.9% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 42,563 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 22,575 shares in the last quarter. Islay Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of LKQ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $559,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 126,729 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,657,000 after purchasing an additional 11,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC increased its position in LKQ by 53.2% during the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 19,298 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 6,698 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on LKQ. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.60.

LKQ Stock Down 0.2 %

LKQ stock opened at $39.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.09 and a 200 day moving average of $39.15. LKQ Co. has a one year low of $35.56 and a one year high of $46.64.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.58 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Justin L. Jude acquired 2,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $36.99 per share, for a total transaction of $100,168.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 280,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,385,941.23. This trade represents a 0.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total transaction of $634,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 336,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,225,233.20. This represents a 4.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,873,750 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

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.