LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,895 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 664 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LKQ. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in LKQ by 112.9% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 42,563 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 22,575 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in 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 worth $309,609,000 after purchasing an additional 833,519 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group purchased a new position in LKQ during the third quarter worth about $634,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in LKQ by 58.8% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 268,031 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $9,850,000 after purchasing an additional 99,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in LKQ by 27,310.6% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 64,415 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,571,000 after purchasing an additional 64,180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at LKQ

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $180,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 369,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,352,356.68. This trade represents a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.60.

LKQ Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of LKQ opened at $42.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.92. LKQ Co. has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $53.68. 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 (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Equities analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.