William Blair Investment Management LLC Acquires 1,915 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,231 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,915 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of LKQ in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $274,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in LKQ by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 45,069 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,799,000 after purchasing an additional 2,530 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in LKQ by 479,800.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,799 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 4,798 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of LKQ in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,840,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 40.8% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,515 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $979,000 after purchasing an additional 7,104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

LKQ Price Performance

LKQ stock opened at $41.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $39.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.94. LKQ Co. has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-week high of $53.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 1.28.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the company’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 value 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 represents a 4.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,416,300. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.