LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Shares Bought by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 58.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 268,031 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 99,229 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned about 0.10% of LKQ worth $9,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LKQ. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of LKQ in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,733,000. Seizert Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of LKQ by 451.1% in the 3rd quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,327,664 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $53,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,086,758 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of LKQ by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,406,444 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $309,609,000 after acquiring an additional 833,519 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LKQ in the 3rd quarter valued at $19,889,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of LKQ by 68.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,210,661 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $44,492,000 after acquiring an additional 492,356 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $180,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 369,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,352,356.68. This trade represents a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $781,500 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Stock Performance

LKQ stock opened at $41.54 on Wednesday. LKQ Co. has a 12-month low of $35.56 and a 12-month high of $53.68. The company has a market capitalization of $10.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $37.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.79.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. On average, research analysts forecast 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, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LKQ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LKQ has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.60.

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.