Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 115,300 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ – Get Rating) by 27.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 304,662 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 115,300 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $16,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LKQ. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 81.1% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 300.6% during the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 665 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 1,874.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,402 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 135.2% during the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,936 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of LKQ during the 3rd quarter worth about $107,000. 93.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John W. Mendel sold 1,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction on Friday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.81, for a total value of $56,810.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $806,872.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Holdings L.P. Valueact sold 450,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.94, for a total transaction of $26,073,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,102,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,893,392.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Mendel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.81, for a total transaction of $56,810.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $806,872.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 877,290 shares of company stock worth $50,781,232 in the last 90 days. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

LKQ Stock Down 1.1 %

LKQ stock opened at $54.54 on Wednesday. LKQ Co. has a twelve month low of $46.20 and a twelve month high of $59.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $55.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.64. The company has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The auto parts company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.24%. LKQ’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 4.08 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 18th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 17th. LKQ’s payout ratio is 26.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LKQ shares. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of LKQ in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company.

About LKQ

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LKQ Corp. is a distributor of vehicle products and its parts to repair, maintain, and accessorize automobiles. It operates through the following segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe and Specialty. The Wholesale-North America segment includes Glass and Self-Service segments. The company was founded by Donald F.