American Century Companies Inc. Lowers Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its position in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 819,319 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 21,845 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $30,110,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goodman Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Goodman Financial Corp now owns 308,803 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $11,348,000 after buying an additional 22,162 shares in the last quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in LKQ during the fourth quarter worth about $367,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in LKQ in the fourth quarter worth about $1,548,000. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of LKQ by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 38,059 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of LKQ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,114,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $184,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 374,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,795,180.08. This represents a 1.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on LKQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.60.

LKQ Stock Up 0.5 %

LKQ stock opened at $41.59 on Friday. LKQ Co. has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $53.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $10.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 1.28.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The company 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%. Equities analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.80%.

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.