Nordea Investment Management AB Acquires 833,519 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,406,444 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 833,519 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 3.23% of LKQ worth $309,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of LKQ during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in LKQ by 94.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,010 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in LKQ by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in LKQ by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,256 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in LKQ in the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LKQ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $59.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of LKQ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of LKQ from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $53.80.

LKQ Stock Performance

LKQ traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $36.76. 1,859,326 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,942,175. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.71. LKQ Co. has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $53.68. The stock has a market cap of $9.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.72 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 15.15% and a net margin of 4.90%. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. LKQ's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $184,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 374,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,795,180.08. The trade was a 1.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.