Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Purchases 423 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,368 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the period. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LKQ. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of LKQ in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in LKQ by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in LKQ by 31.2% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,256 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in LKQ in the third quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in LKQ by 618.0% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,673 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LKQ Stock Performance

NASDAQ LKQ opened at $42.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average of $38.13 and a 200-day moving average of $38.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. LKQ Co. has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $53.68.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. On average, equities analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LKQ has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, LKQ currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.60.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $180,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 369,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,352,356.68. This trade represents a 1.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $781,500 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.55% 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.