Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Raises Stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,380,086 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,639 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in LKQ were worth $50,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 440,244 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $16,109,000 after purchasing an additional 76,692 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its stake in LKQ by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 12,853 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 3,004 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in LKQ by 56.6% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 813,339 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $29,890,000 after acquiring an additional 293,872 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 126,729 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,657,000 after acquiring an additional 11,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of LKQ during the fourth quarter valued at $3,117,000. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $41.59 on Friday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.96. LKQ Co. has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $53.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87 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 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 the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is 45.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $180,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 369,462 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on LKQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LKQ currently has a consensus rating of “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.