Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Lowers Holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. reduced its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,991 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 729 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LKQ. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in LKQ by 81.0% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in shares of LKQ by 618.0% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,673 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of LKQ in the 3rd quarter valued at about $81,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in LKQ by 107.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in LKQ by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,815 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LKQ opened at $42.54 on Tuesday. LKQ Co. has a twelve month low of $35.56 and a twelve month high of $53.53. The company has a market cap of $11.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.24 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.98.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. LKQ’s payout ratio is 45.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $180,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 369,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,352,356.68. This represents a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, LKQ currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.60.

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.