LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) Shares Sold by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 77,628 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 36,339 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $3,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of LKQ by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 16,940 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $705,000 after acquiring an additional 2,253 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of LKQ by 7.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 17,804 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 1,305 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 101.6% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,609 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of LKQ by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,870 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 6,131 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in LKQ in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,585,000. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on LKQ. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of LKQ from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of LKQ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on LKQ from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $53.80.

LKQ Stock Performance

Shares of LKQ opened at $37.98 on Friday. LKQ Co. has a 52 week low of $35.57 and a 52 week high of $53.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.72. The company has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $38.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.29.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.01. LKQ had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 15.15%. The business had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. LKQ’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.78%.

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.