Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 585 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 25.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,847 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $105,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in LKQ by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 14,872 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225 shares in the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in LKQ by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 63,226 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,324,000 after buying an additional 5,760 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,133 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in LKQ by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC now owns 705,700 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $25,934,000 after purchasing an additional 25,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 194,085 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $7,133,000 after buying an additional 8,218 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LKQ has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com lowered LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.60.

Insider Activity

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $184,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 374,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,795,180.08. This represents a 1.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $781,500. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

LKQ Price Performance

LKQ stock opened at $40.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a PE ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $37.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.76. LKQ Co. has a 1 year low of $35.56 and a 1 year high of $53.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Equities 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.80%.

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.