LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Shares Purchased by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 23.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,684 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $2,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKQ. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in LKQ by 27.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 36,922 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 8,002 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in LKQ by 23.3% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 73,041 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,317,000 after purchasing an additional 13,792 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in LKQ by 6.6% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 35,882 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of LKQ by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 44,028 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,999,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of LKQ by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 12,163 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 2,429 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LKQ Price Performance

LKQ opened at $47.91 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $51.17 and a 200-day moving average of $48.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 1.28. LKQ Co. has a 12-month low of $41.49 and a 12-month high of $59.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The auto parts company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.52 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 6.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 4.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LKQ. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.50.

Insider Transactions at LKQ

In other news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total value of $10,394,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,087,548.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

LKQ 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.