D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Acquires 1,104,431 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 336.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,432,724 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,104,431 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $52,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LKQ. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of LKQ by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591,553 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $241,643,000 after buying an additional 48,813 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,571,136 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $204,739,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,481 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,231,940 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $192,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,001 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of LKQ in the fourth quarter worth approximately $165,548,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in LKQ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $119,395,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In other LKQ news, CEO Justin L. Jude bought 2,708 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $36.99 per share, for a total transaction of $100,168.92. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 280,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,385,941.23. This trade represents a 0.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.02, for a total value of $190,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 316,135 shares in the company, valued at $12,019,452.70. The trade was a 1.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,873,750. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LKQ has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.60.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LKQ opened at $40.10 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.17. The company has a market cap of $10.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.31 and a beta of 0.98. 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 $46.64.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.79 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. LKQ’s payout ratio is 44.78%.

LKQ 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.