LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Shares Purchased by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) by 149.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 63,365 shares of the auto parts company's stock after acquiring an additional 37,928 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in LKQ were worth $2,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $309,609,000 after purchasing an additional 833,519 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in LKQ by 3,683.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 274,577 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $11,420,000 after acquiring an additional 267,320 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group purchased a new stake in LKQ during the third quarter valued at about $634,000. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in LKQ by 27,310.6% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 64,415 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $2,571,000 after acquiring an additional 64,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Regatta Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of LKQ by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 19,132 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LKQ Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ LKQ traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $38.46. 1,801,602 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,815,148. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.43. LKQ Co. has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $53.68. The company has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.01. LKQ had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 15.15%. The company had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The company's revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.43 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. LKQ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.78%.

Insider Transactions at LKQ

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $184,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 374,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,795,180.08. This trade represents a 1.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised LKQ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.80.

LKQ Company 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.