Natixis Advisors LLC Has $4.19 Million Stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 16.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 114,068 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 21,752 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $4,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in LKQ during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,733,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in LKQ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,363,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in LKQ by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,406,444 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $309,609,000 after purchasing an additional 833,519 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its stake in LKQ by 118.6% in the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,467,822 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $53,942,000 after purchasing an additional 796,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of LKQ by 68.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,210,661 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $44,492,000 after purchasing an additional 492,356 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $52.60.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $40.40 on Friday. LKQ Co. has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $53.68. The company has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.71.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 14.93% and a net margin of 4.81%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th 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 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.80%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $184,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 374,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,795,180.08. The trade was a 1.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

LKQ Company 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.