LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Shares Sold by Headlands Technologies LLC

Headlands Technologies LLC decreased its holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 48.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,184 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 9,641 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 13.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,581 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 55.5% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 46,763 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 16,698 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 2.2% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 426,454 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $21,114,000 after purchasing an additional 9,273 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 20.8% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 21,003 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,040,000 after purchasing an additional 3,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in LKQ by 12.6% in the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,162 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 1,469 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LKQ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of LKQ from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In other news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total transaction of $10,394,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:LKQ traded up $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $43.64. 2,390,793 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,825,378. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.18. LKQ Co. has a 52-week low of $41.30 and a 52-week high of $59.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 1.28.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto parts company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.96%.

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.