Praxis Investment Management Inc. Takes $439,000 Position in LKQ Corporation (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Praxis Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in LKQ Corporation (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 10,330 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $439,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in LKQ by 104.8% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 977 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 299.6% during the 1st quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,135 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 107.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 56.2% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,971 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in LKQ by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.02, for a total value of $190,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 316,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,019,452.70. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Justin L. Jude purchased 2,708 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $36.99 per share, with a total value of $100,168.92. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 280,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on LKQ. Wall Street Zen cut LKQ from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.60.

LKQ Price Performance

NASDAQ:LKQ traded up $0.13 on Thursday, hitting $37.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,743,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,306,322. LKQ Corporation has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $46.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $39.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.47.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.58 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 4.97%. LKQ's revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that LKQ Corporation will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. LKQ's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.78%.

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.