Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 59,712 Shares of LKQ Corporation (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lowered its holdings in LKQ Corporation (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,114,886 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 59,712 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned about 0.43% of LKQ worth $47,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of LKQ by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 50,851 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 10.9% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 35,001 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $1,456,000 after buying an additional 3,427 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in LKQ by 40.6% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 290,038 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $12,338,000 after buying an additional 83,713 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its position in LKQ by 5.1% during the first quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 23,634 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in LKQ by 26.7% during the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 127,791 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $5,436,000 after acquiring an additional 26,904 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LKQ. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen cut 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LKQ has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $52.60.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LKQ traded up $0.95 on Tuesday, hitting $37.96. The company had a trading volume of 1,954,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,307,425. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.46. 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 cap of $9.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.98. LKQ Corporation has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $46.64.

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

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. LKQ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Justin L. Jude bought 2,708 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $36.99 per share, with a total value of $100,168.92. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 280,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,385,941.23. This represents a 0.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.02, for a total transaction of $190,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 316,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,019,452.70. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

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.