Cooke & Bieler LP Grows Stock Holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 95.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,403,053 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,171,225 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP owned approximately 0.90% of LKQ worth $114,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in LKQ during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in LKQ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Clear Street Markets LLC increased its holdings in LKQ by 94.1% during the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 497 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in LKQ by 81.1% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in LKQ by 228.4% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 647 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on LKQ. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.50.

LKQ Stock Performance

LKQ opened at $49.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.36. LKQ Co. has a 1-year low of $41.49 and a 1-year high of $59.38. The firm has a market cap of $13.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03 and a beta of 1.28.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The auto parts company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.08. LKQ had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 17.24%. The firm had revenue of $3.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. LKQ’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast 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 was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is 34.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $20,087,548.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company 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.