Norges Bank Buys Shares of 3,248,832 LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Norges Bank bought a new position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,248,832 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $119,395,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.25% of LKQ at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in LKQ by 81.0% in the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 618.0% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,673 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of LKQ in the third quarter worth $81,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 107.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in LKQ by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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LKQ Price Performance

NASDAQ:LKQ traded down $0.89 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $41.29. 3,708,560 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,234,234. The company has a market capitalization of $10.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 1.28. LKQ Co. has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $52.06. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $40.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ - Get Free Report) last released 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. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. LKQ's payout ratio is 45.80%.

Insider Transactions at LKQ

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total value of $634,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 336,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,225,233.20. This trade represents a 4.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,864,350 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

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.