Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 328,554 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,649,154 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 328,554 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 4.48% of LKQ worth $428,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LKQ. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in LKQ by 112.9% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 42,563 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 22,575 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $309,609,000 after buying an additional 833,519 shares in the last quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of LKQ during the fourth quarter worth $367,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group purchased a new position in LKQ during the third quarter valued at $634,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in LKQ by 58.8% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 268,031 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $9,850,000 after acquiring an additional 99,229 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total value of $634,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 336,135 shares in the company, valued at $14,225,233.20. This trade represents 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. Insiders have sold 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,864,350 in the last ninety days. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

LKQ Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ LKQ opened at $43.38 on Thursday. LKQ Co. has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $52.84. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $40.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56 and a beta of 1.28.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. As a group, research analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. LKQ’s payout ratio is 45.80%.

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.