University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. Purchases Shares of 82,642 LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 82,642 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $3,037,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in LKQ by 107.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in LKQ by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 92.5% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 2,890 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

LKQ Stock Up 1.6%

LKQ traded up $0.65 on Tuesday, reaching $40.84. 2,001,449 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,279,242. The company has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.59 and a beta of 0.98. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $40.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.49. LKQ Co. has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-week high of $46.64.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. LKQ's payout ratio is 44.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.15, for a total transaction of $632,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 321,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,535,840.25. This represents a 4.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Justin L. Jude bought 2,708 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $36.99 per share, for a total transaction of $100,168.92. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 280,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,385,941.23. This represents a 0.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,457,150. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

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.