Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Acquires 1,196 Shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,485 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,196 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in LKQ were worth $826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 44,169 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,623,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its position in LKQ by 81.0% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in LKQ by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $178,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in LKQ by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 12,368 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Stock Up 1.4 %

LKQ opened at $42.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12 and a beta of 1.28. LKQ Co. has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $53.68. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.92. 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 (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. LKQ’s payout ratio is 45.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LKQ. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LKQ has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.60.

Insider Activity

In other LKQ news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 369,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,352,356.68. The trade was a 1.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,416,300 in the last three months. Company 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.