LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Shares Sold by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. decreased its stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,000 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 248 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LKQ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in LKQ during the fourth quarter worth about $159,324,000. Boston Partners raised its position in LKQ by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,507,873 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $358,848,000 after acquiring an additional 1,351,389 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position in LKQ by 95.1% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,403,053 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $114,842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,225 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of LKQ by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,307,753 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $540,398,000 after buying an additional 977,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polaris Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of LKQ in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,821,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LKQ. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Friday, July 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of LKQ from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.60.

LKQ Stock Down 0.9 %

LKQ traded down $0.39 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $45.01. The company had a trading volume of 772,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,736,880. The company has a market cap of $12.01 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63 and a beta of 1.29. LKQ Co. has a 1-year low of $39.72 and a 1-year high of $57.73. The business has a 50-day moving average of $42.65 and a 200-day moving average of $46.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto parts company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 5.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LKQ news, Director Xavier Urbain sold 867 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total transaction of $38,581.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,467. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.55% 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.