Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 6,294 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 89,078 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 6,294 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in LKQ were worth $3,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of LKQ by 81.0% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of LKQ by 618.0% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,673 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of LKQ by 107.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of LKQ by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of LKQ by 92.5% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 2,890 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the period. 95.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LKQ Stock Down 0.4%

LKQ stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.22. The stock had a trading volume of 422,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,276,415. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $40.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.55. LKQ Co. has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-week high of $46.64. The firm has a market cap of $10.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32 and a beta of 0.98.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.58 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. LKQ's dividend payout ratio is 44.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.15, for a total value of $632,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 321,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,535,840.25. This represents a 4.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Justin L. Jude bought 2,708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $36.99 per share, for a total transaction of $100,168.92. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 280,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,385,941.23. This trade represents a 0.97% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages 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. Wall Street Zen cut LKQ from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $52.60.

LKQ Company 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.