Leuthold Group LLC Sells 2,958 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Leuthold Group LLC lessened its position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 82,316 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 2,958 shares during the quarter. Leuthold Group LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $3,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LKQ. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in LKQ in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,733,000. Seizert Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 451.1% in the third quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,327,664 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $53,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086,758 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in LKQ by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,406,444 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $309,609,000 after purchasing an additional 833,519 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. bought a new position in LKQ during the 3rd quarter worth $19,889,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in LKQ by 68.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,210,661 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $44,492,000 after buying an additional 492,356 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LKQ shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.60.

LKQ Trading Down 3.0 %

LKQ opened at $40.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.53 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 0.67. LKQ Co. has a fifty-two week low of $35.56 and a fifty-two week high of $53.68. The company’s 50-day moving average is $37.63 and its 200 day moving average is $38.76.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 15.15%. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.78%.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.66, for a total value of $416,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 359,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,975,186.92. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,000 shares of company stock worth $781,500. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company 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.