Invenomic Capital Management LP Sells 76,612 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Invenomic Capital Management LP decreased its holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 42.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 102,440 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 76,612 shares during the quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP’s holdings in LKQ were worth $3,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591,553 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $241,643,000 after acquiring an additional 48,813 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,571,136 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $204,739,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,481 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,231,940 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $192,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053,001 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of LKQ in the 4th quarter valued at about $165,548,000. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of LKQ in the 4th quarter valued at about $160,339,000. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on LKQ. StockNews.com downgraded shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 336,135 shares in the company, valued at $14,225,233.20. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Justin L. Jude bought 2,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $36.99 per share, with a total value of $100,168.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 280,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,385,941.23. This trade represents a 0.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,873,750 over the last ninety days. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LKQ opened at $40.10 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $10.35 billion, a PE ratio of 15.31 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.19. LKQ Co. has a one year low of $35.56 and a one year high of $46.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.71.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.58 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. LKQ’s revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.78%.

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.