Swiss National Bank Lowers Holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Swiss National Bank decreased its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 743,700 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 46,100 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in LKQ were worth $27,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 0.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,977,708 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $478,150,000 after purchasing an additional 33,212 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,449,166 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $457,051,000 after purchasing an additional 134,176 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,406,444 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $309,609,000 after purchasing an additional 833,519 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,542,740 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $260,330,000 after purchasing an additional 21,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 7.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,020,689 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $240,346,000 after purchasing an additional 411,390 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LKQ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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 downgraded LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total transaction of $634,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 336,135 shares in the company, valued at $14,225,233.20. This trade represents a 4.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,416,300. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of LKQ opened at $42.24 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.92. The stock has a market cap of $10.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12 and a beta of 1.28. LKQ Co. has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $53.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. On average, analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s dividend 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.