FIL Ltd Buys 877,888 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) by 1,008.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 964,923 shares of the auto parts company's stock after buying an additional 877,888 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd owned approximately 0.37% of LKQ worth $35,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in LKQ in the 4th quarter worth approximately $119,395,000. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of LKQ in the fourth quarter worth approximately $91,678,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of LKQ by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,571,136 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $204,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,481 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LKQ during the 4th quarter valued at $40,363,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in LKQ by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,406,444 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $309,609,000 after buying an additional 833,519 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

LKQ Price Performance

NASDAQ:LKQ traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $41.84. The stock had a trading volume of 308,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,266,223. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.82 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97 and a beta of 1.09. LKQ Co. has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $49.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.09. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. LKQ's payout ratio is 45.80%.

Insider Transactions at LKQ

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 owns 369,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,352,356.68. This trade represents a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,000 shares of company stock worth $1,864,350. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.