LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Shares Acquired by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. lifted its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 69.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,401 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 5,092 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in LKQ by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 31.2% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,256 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of LKQ in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 618.0% in 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 period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of LKQ in the third quarter valued at approximately $81,000. 95.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LKQ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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 restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LKQ currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.60.

LKQ Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:LKQ opened at $43.38 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.56 and a beta of 1.28. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $35.56 and a 1 year high of $53.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s payout ratio is 45.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $180,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 369,462 shares in the company, valued at $13,352,356.68. This trade represents a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

About LKQ

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.