Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Acquires 7,418 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 818,792 shares of the auto parts company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,418 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC owned 0.31% of LKQ worth $30,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LKQ. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of LKQ during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $119,395,000. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in LKQ during the fourth quarter valued at $91,678,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,571,136 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $204,739,000 after buying an additional 1,171,481 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LKQ in the 4th quarter worth about $40,363,000. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of LKQ by 1,008.7% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 964,923 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $35,461,000 after buying an additional 877,888 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LKQ Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of LKQ traded up $0.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $42.01. 1,758,375 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,275,458. LKQ Co. has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $50.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $10.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03 and a beta of 1.09. The stock's 50-day moving average is $40.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.06.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Research analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. LKQ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LKQ has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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 reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded LKQ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, LKQ presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $52.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $180,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 369,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,352,356.68. This represents a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 45,000 shares of company stock worth $1,864,350 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

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.