Bridgewater Associates LP Reduces Stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Bridgewater Associates LP lowered its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 101,695 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 29,967 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP's holdings in LKQ were worth $3,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LKQ. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in LKQ by 81.0% in the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in LKQ by 618.0% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,673 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in LKQ in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $81,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in LKQ by 107.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in LKQ by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total transaction of $634,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 336,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,225,233.20. This represents a 4.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,864,350. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

LKQ Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LKQ traded up $0.21 on Wednesday, hitting $42.47. 492,563 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,275,371. The firm's 50-day moving average is $41.48 and its 200 day moving average is $39.16. The company has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 1.09. LKQ Co. has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $46.76. 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 announced 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 firm had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. Sell-side analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. LKQ's payout ratio is 45.80%.

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.