LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Holdings Raised by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,689,298 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 136,382 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.65% of LKQ worth $62,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKQ. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in LKQ by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,372 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in LKQ by 74.9% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 65,217 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,603,000 after acquiring an additional 27,931 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in LKQ by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 103,156 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,118,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in LKQ during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in LKQ by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,418,725 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $56,631,000 after acquiring an additional 407,593 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LKQ Stock Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:LKQ opened at $43.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.56 and a beta of 1.28. LKQ Co. has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $53.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $38.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.92.

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

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s payout ratio is currently 45.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $180,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 369,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,352,356.68. This represents a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LKQ. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.60.

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.