Twinbeech Capital LP Sells 408,634 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Twinbeech Capital LP reduced its holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 85.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 67,915 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 408,634 shares during the quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP’s holdings in LKQ were worth $2,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 44,169 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 34,192 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 68,790 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,528,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in LKQ by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,436 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.60.

LKQ Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:LKQ opened at $41.59 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. LKQ Co. has a 1 year low of $35.56 and a 1 year high of $46.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.41.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.58 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. LKQ’s payout ratio is currently 44.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Justin L. Jude acquired 2,708 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $36.99 per share, for a total transaction of $100,168.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 280,777 shares in the company, valued at $10,385,941.23. The trade was a 0.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.66, for a total value of $416,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 359,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,975,186.92. This trade represents a 2.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,873,750 over the last ninety days. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.