Virtu Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Virtu Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) by 226.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,363 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,509 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC's holdings in LKQ were worth $893,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in LKQ by 15.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 16,940 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $705,000 after purchasing an additional 2,253 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 17,804 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 1,305 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in LKQ by 101.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,609 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 811 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LKQ during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,601,000. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of LKQ during the second quarter worth approximately $1,600,000. 95.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LKQ has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on LKQ from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, LKQ has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.80.

LKQ Price Performance

LKQ stock traded down $0.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.98. 1,495,471 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,959,914. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.72. LKQ Co. has a 52 week low of $35.57 and a 52 week high of $53.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 1.29.

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

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. LKQ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.78%.

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.