New York State Common Retirement Fund Increases Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,059,686 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,633 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.40% of LKQ worth $50,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in LKQ in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,848,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in LKQ by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,839 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in LKQ by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 23,304 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in LKQ by 57.2% in the 4th quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 26,070 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 9,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,015,499 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $48,531,000 after acquiring an additional 113,145 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LKQ shares. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.60.

LKQ Trading Down 14.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LKQ opened at $41.65 on Wednesday. LKQ Co. has a 52 week low of $41.46 and a 52 week high of $59.38. The company’s 50 day moving average is $51.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $11.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 1.28.

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

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.29%.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In related news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total value of $10,394,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 is available at this link. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

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.