Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) by 35.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,601,627 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 889,589 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.62% of LKQ worth $58,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in LKQ by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,571,136 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $204,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,481 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in LKQ by 956.3% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 213,133 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $7,879,000 after purchasing an additional 192,955 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of LKQ by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,432,447 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $52,642,000 after purchasing an additional 86,186 shares in the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in LKQ in the fourth quarter valued at about $91,678,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in LKQ by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 630,314 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $23,150,000 after acquiring an additional 90,098 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKQ traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $41.74. 623,161 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,268,703. LKQ Co. has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $49.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 1.09. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $41.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.10. 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 data 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. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. LKQ's payout ratio is currently 45.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on LKQ. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of LKQ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on 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 has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $52.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $180,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 45,000 shares of company stock worth $1,864,350. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.