Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Takes $6.85 Million Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 143,284 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,848,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.05% of LKQ at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in LKQ by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,245,966 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,497,478,000 after buying an additional 382,054 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in LKQ by 5.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,330,168 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $511,447,000 after buying an additional 540,259 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in LKQ by 13.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,907,659 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $490,528,000 after buying an additional 1,195,122 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in LKQ by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,002,807 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $430,244,000 after buying an additional 383,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in LKQ by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,292,994 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $349,407,000 after buying an additional 143,632 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $41.65 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $11.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.36. LKQ Co. has a 12-month low of $41.46 and a 12-month high of $59.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total transaction of $10,394,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,087,548.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by 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.