William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $435,000 Stock Holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,459 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,523 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LKQ. Czech National Bank grew its stake in LKQ by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 47,084 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,515,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of LKQ by 5.3% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 4,572 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of LKQ by 4.6% during the first quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 5,249 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its holdings in LKQ by 29.8% during the 2nd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 1,211 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in LKQ by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 13,158 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $703,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on LKQ from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of LKQ from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Matthew J. Mckay bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $39.75 per share, with a total value of $99,375.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 94,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,763,132.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other LKQ news, Director Andrew C. Clarke bought 7,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.70 per share, for a total transaction of $301,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,519 shares in the company, valued at $417,604.30. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Matthew J. Mckay purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $39.75 per share, with a total value of $99,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 94,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,763,132.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 12,600 shares of company stock worth $500,870 in the last three months. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $40.43 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $10.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.39 and a 200-day moving average of $44.55. LKQ Co. has a 1-year low of $35.57 and a 1-year high of $53.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by ($0.05). LKQ had a net margin of 5.03% and a return on equity of 15.33%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.96%.

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.