LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Position Increased by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,380,086 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 64,639 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned 0.53% of LKQ worth $50,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 440,244 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $16,109,000 after purchasing an additional 76,692 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its position in shares of LKQ by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 12,853 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 3,004 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in LKQ by 56.6% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 813,339 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $29,890,000 after acquiring an additional 293,872 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in LKQ by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 126,729 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $4,657,000 after acquiring an additional 11,975 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in LKQ during the fourth quarter worth about $3,117,000. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of LKQ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $52.60.

LKQ Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of LKQ stock traded up $0.95 on Monday, hitting $42.54. The stock had a trading volume of 3,506,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,197,973. The stock's 50 day moving average is $40.14 and its 200-day moving average is $38.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24 and a beta of 1.28. LKQ Co. has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-week high of $53.53. 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 (NASDAQ:LKQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. LKQ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.80%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total value of $634,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 336,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,225,233.20. This trade represents a 4.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,416,300. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.