Headlands Technologies LLC Buys 61,476 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 267.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,481 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 61,476 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $3,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in LKQ by 81.0% in the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in shares of LKQ by 618.0% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,673 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in LKQ during the third quarter worth $81,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in LKQ by 107.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in LKQ by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total transaction of $634,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 336,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,225,233.20. This trade represents a 4.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LKQ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, LKQ has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $52.60.

LKQ Stock Up 2.3 %

LKQ opened at $42.54 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.23 and a 200 day moving average of $38.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. LKQ Co. has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $53.53. The company has a market cap of $11.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.24 and a beta of 1.28.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s payout ratio is 45.80%.

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.