QRG Capital Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

QRG Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 29.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,083 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 8,011 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora lifted its stake in LKQ by 0.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 31.2% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,256 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of LKQ by 0.3% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 103,156 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,118,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in LKQ by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in LKQ by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $178,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on LKQ. StockNews.com downgraded LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LKQ has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $180,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 369,462 shares in the company, valued at $13,352,356.68. This trade represents a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 20,000 shares of company stock worth $781,500 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Stock Performance

NASDAQ LKQ opened at $42.08 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $38.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.86. LKQ Co. has a fifty-two week low of $35.56 and a fifty-two week high of $53.68. The company has a market cap of $10.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.06 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.71.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s payout ratio is currently 45.80%.

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.