Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 29,412 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 204,264 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 29,412 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned about 0.08% of LKQ worth $9,762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LKQ. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its stake in LKQ by 1.4% in the third quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 17,470 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $865,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in LKQ by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,103 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in LKQ by 7.1% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,071 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Threadgill Financial LLC grew its stake in LKQ by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC now owns 26,650 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Column Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in LKQ by 16.7% in the third quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on LKQ. StockNews.com cut LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.60.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKQ opened at $41.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $51.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.36. LKQ Co. has a 52 week low of $41.46 and a 52 week high of $59.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 1.28.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto parts company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 17.24%. LKQ’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. Analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is 34.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In other LKQ news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total value of $10,394,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 386,522 shares in the company, valued at $20,087,548.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

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.