Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $2.87 Million Stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 78,201 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $2,874,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of LKQ by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,449,166 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $457,051,000 after purchasing an additional 134,176 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in LKQ by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,406,444 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $309,609,000 after buying an additional 833,519 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in LKQ by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,542,740 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $260,330,000 after acquiring an additional 21,161 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in LKQ in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $119,395,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in LKQ by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,572,676 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $94,546,000 after acquiring an additional 84,244 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LKQ has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.60.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $43.38 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.03. LKQ Co. has a fifty-two week low of $35.56 and a fifty-two week high of $52.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $11.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56 and a beta of 1.28.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. Sell-side analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.80%.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total transaction 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 represents a 4.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 45,000 shares of company stock worth $1,864,350 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

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.