Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Decreases Stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC decreased its position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 85,869 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 1,572 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $3,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LKQ. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in LKQ during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,970,000. Islay Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of LKQ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $559,000. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of LKQ by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 5,775 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Bryce Point Capital LLC purchased a new stake in LKQ in the fourth quarter worth $563,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in LKQ by 267.2% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 84,481 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,105,000 after acquiring an additional 61,476 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 value of $180,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 369,462 shares in the company, valued at $13,352,356.68. The trade was a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,864,350. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

LKQ Price Performance

Shares of LKQ opened at $39.51 on Tuesday. LKQ Co. has a fifty-two week low of $35.56 and a fifty-two week high of $52.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.02. The stock has a market cap of $10.22 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.71.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. Analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s payout ratio is 45.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

LKQ Company 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.