AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 55,324 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 68.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 135,817 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,324 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of LKQ worth $4,971,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in LKQ by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 618.0% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,673 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of LKQ in the third quarter valued at about $81,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in LKQ by 107.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in LKQ by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,815 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LKQ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.60.

LKQ Price Performance

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $40.02 on Friday. LKQ Co. has a one year low of $35.56 and a one year high of $46.64. 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 stock has a market cap of $10.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.99 and its 200 day moving average is $39.16.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. LKQ’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. LKQ’s payout ratio is 44.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Justin L. Jude bought 2,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $36.99 per share, with a total value of $100,168.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 280,777 shares in the company, valued at $10,385,941.23. This trade represents a 0.97 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total transaction of $634,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 336,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,225,233.20. This trade represents a 4.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,000 shares of company stock worth $1,873,750 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

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.