14,126 Shares in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Purchased by Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 14,126 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $519,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of LKQ by 264.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 84,235 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $3,096,000 after purchasing an additional 61,145 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in LKQ by 149.1% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 63,365 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $2,329,000 after purchasing an additional 37,928 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its position in LKQ by 37.6% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 15,127 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 4,131 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in LKQ by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 20,464 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $752,000 after buying an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Albert D Mason Inc. lifted its position in shares of LKQ by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 42,151 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $1,549,000 after buying an additional 10,533 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LKQ Stock Performance

LKQ stock traded down $1.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.38. The company had a trading volume of 2,152,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,276,408. 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 $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.86 and a 200-day moving average of $39.41. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. LKQ's revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. LKQ's dividend payout ratio is 44.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In related news, CEO Justin L. Jude purchased 2,708 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $36.99 per share, for a total transaction of $100,168.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 280,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,385,941.23. This represents a 0.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,873,750. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LKQ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered LKQ from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, LKQ has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $52.60.

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.