Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Reduces Stock Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC trimmed its position in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,505 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 5,262 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $2,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LKQ. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in LKQ by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 777 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in LKQ in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of LKQ by 54.2% in the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 825 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 65.1% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 900 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of LKQ during the first quarter valued at about $56,000. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on LKQ. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on LKQ from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.80.

LKQ Stock Performance

LKQ stock opened at $39.98 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $41.55 and its 200 day moving average is $44.91. The company has a market capitalization of $10.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.98 and a beta of 1.29. LKQ Co. has a twelve month low of $35.57 and a twelve month high of $53.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.87 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 5.03% and a return on equity of 15.33%. LKQ’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.96%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew J. Mckay acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $39.75 per share, for a total transaction of $99,375.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,670 shares in the company, valued at $3,763,132.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other LKQ news, SVP Matthew J. Mckay acquired 2,500 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $39.75 per share, for a total transaction of $99,375.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 94,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,763,132.50. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Andrew C. Clarke bought 7,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $39.70 per share, for a total transaction of $301,720.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $417,604.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 12,600 shares of company stock worth $500,870 over the last 90 days. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.