Vestcor Inc Raises Stock Holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Vestcor Inc raised its holdings in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 108.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,561 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 6,537 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in LKQ were worth $462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora boosted its holdings in LKQ by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 44,169 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,623,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in LKQ by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of LKQ by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of LKQ by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 12,368 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $180,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 369,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,352,356.68. The trade was a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,416,300. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LKQ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.60.

LKQ Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $42.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s fifty day moving average is $39.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.92. LKQ Co. has a fifty-two week low of $35.56 and a fifty-two week high of $53.68. 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) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.