LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Shares Purchased by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ - Free Report) by 369.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 456,839 shares of the auto parts company's stock after buying an additional 359,606 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned about 0.17% of LKQ worth $21,832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LKQ. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of LKQ by 271.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,612,434 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $459,990,000 after purchasing an additional 6,296,379 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of LKQ during the fourth quarter worth about $239,693,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of LKQ by 84.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,172,143 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $280,277,000 after purchasing an additional 2,819,542 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of LKQ by 15.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,749,817 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $306,509,000 after purchasing an additional 914,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of LKQ by 13.4% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,149,362 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $357,182,000 after purchasing an additional 844,188 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered LKQ from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $63.50.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKQ traded up $0.67 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $48.58. 1,640,018 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,533,484. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. LKQ Co. has a 1 year low of $41.49 and a 1 year high of $59.38. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.36. The stock has a market cap of $12.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 1.28.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The auto parts company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.08. LKQ had a return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 6.75%. The company had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. LKQ's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LKQ

In other LKQ news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total value of $10,394,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 386,522 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,087,548.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.