Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Buys Shares of 7,911 LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP bought a new stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,911 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $378,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of LKQ during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of LKQ during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 228.4% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 647 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of LKQ during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Headinvest LLC bought a new position in shares of LKQ during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LKQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com cut LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on LKQ from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.60.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of LKQ stock traded up $1.63 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $43.28. 5,642,373 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,692,079. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.30. LKQ Co. has a 12-month low of $41.30 and a 12-month high of $59.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto parts company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.13). LKQ had a return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 6.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. LKQ’s 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 dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total transaction of $10,394,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 386,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,087,548.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.45% 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.