LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Stake Lowered by 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC

12th Street Asset Management Company LLC trimmed its position in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 16.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 953,200 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 185,178 shares during the period. LKQ comprises approximately 5.8% of 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC owned about 0.37% of LKQ worth $35,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,977,708 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $478,150,000 after acquiring an additional 33,212 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,449,166 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $457,051,000 after purchasing an additional 134,176 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in LKQ by 11.0% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of LKQ by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,542,740 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $260,330,000 after buying an additional 21,161 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of LKQ by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,020,689 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $240,346,000 after acquiring an additional 411,390 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LKQ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.60.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total value of $634,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 336,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,225,233.20. This trade represents a 4.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300 over the last quarter. 0.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LKQ Price Performance

NASDAQ:LKQ opened at $41.28 on Friday. LKQ Co. has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $53.68. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.95. The firm has a market cap of $10.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 1.27.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s payout ratio is currently 45.80%.

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.