Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Invests $141,000 in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,838 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora raised its position in shares of LKQ by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 44,169 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,623,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of LKQ by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 34,192 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of LKQ by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of LKQ by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 68,790 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,528,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of LKQ by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,436 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.60.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKQ opened at $42.56 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.34. 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 firm has a market cap of $10.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.24 and a beta of 0.98. LKQ Co. has a 1 year low of $35.56 and a 1 year high of $46.64.

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

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. LKQ’s payout ratio is currently 44.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.66, for a total transaction of $416,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 359,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,975,186.92. This trade represents a 2.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Justin L. Jude acquired 2,708 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $36.99 per share, with a total value of $100,168.92. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 280,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,385,941.23. This represents a 0.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,873,750. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.