95,041 Shares in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Bought by Alberta Investment Management Corp

Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 95,041 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $3,493,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lifted its stake in LKQ by 408.0% in the fourth quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 443,030 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $16,281,000 after purchasing an additional 355,815 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in LKQ by 657.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,733 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 5,844 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in LKQ by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 38,292 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $1,464,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in LKQ by 107.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in LKQ by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 10,161 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.63% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at LKQ

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.66, for a total value of $416,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 359,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,975,186.92. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $781,500. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on LKQ shares. StockNews.com downgraded LKQ from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.60.

LKQ Stock Performance

LKQ stock traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $41.25. 2,633,581 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,128,122. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.77. 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 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $53.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a PE ratio of 15.74 and a beta of 1.29.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. LKQ's payout ratio is currently 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.