APG Asset Management N.V. Reduces Holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

APG Asset Management N.V. reduced its position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 60.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 144,900 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 217,704 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. owned approximately 0.06% of LKQ worth $5,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in LKQ in the fourth quarter valued at about $91,678,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in LKQ by 112.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 42,563 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,564,000 after acquiring an additional 22,575 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in 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 buying an additional 833,519 shares in the last quarter. Islay Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of LKQ in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $559,000. Finally, Semanteon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of LKQ during the 4th quarter valued at $367,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 10,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.66, for a total transaction of $416,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 359,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,975,186.92. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,000 shares of company stock worth $1,864,350. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

LKQ Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $42.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.71 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 $50.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.86 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.89 and its 200-day moving average is $39.06.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is 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.