Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Decreases Holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC trimmed its stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85,869 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 1,572 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $3,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its stake in LKQ by 81.0% in the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in LKQ by 618.0% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,673 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in LKQ in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $81,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in LKQ by 107.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of LKQ by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

LKQ Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ LKQ opened at $39.51 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.53 and a 200-day moving average of $39.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. LKQ Co. has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $52.06.

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

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.80%.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.66, for a total value of $416,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 359,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,975,186.92. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,864,350. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LKQ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LKQ currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.