LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on LKQ from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One 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, LKQ has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.40.

LKQ Price Performance

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $41.75 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $37.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58 and a beta of 1.29. LKQ has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $53.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. LKQ had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 15.15%. Sell-side analysts forecast that LKQ will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $184,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 374,462 shares in the company, valued at $13,795,180.08. The trade was a 1.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 20,000 shares of company stock worth $781,500 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 0.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,977,708 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $478,150,000 after purchasing an additional 33,212 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in LKQ by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,449,166 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $457,051,000 after buying an additional 134,176 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in LKQ by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,406,444 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $309,609,000 after buying an additional 833,519 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in LKQ by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591,553 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $241,643,000 after acquiring an additional 48,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of LKQ by 7.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,020,689 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $240,346,000 after acquiring an additional 411,390 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.