Clearbridge Investments LLC Invests $26.56 Million in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 497,309 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,561,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.19% of LKQ at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LKQ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of LKQ by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,897,480 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,650,234,000 after purchasing an additional 656,883 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of LKQ by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,307,753 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $540,398,000 after purchasing an additional 977,585 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in LKQ by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,251,102 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $537,690,000 after acquiring an additional 626,010 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in LKQ by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,113,931 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $486,775,000 after acquiring an additional 111,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in LKQ by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,507,873 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $358,848,000 after acquiring an additional 1,351,389 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In other LKQ news, Director Xavier Urbain sold 867 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total value of $38,581.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,467. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:LKQ traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $45.40. 2,121,233 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,743,767. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. LKQ Co. has a one year low of $39.72 and a one year high of $57.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.66.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 5.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LKQ has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on LKQ from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.60.

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.