Simplicity Solutions LLC Has $703,000 Holdings in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,715 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in LKQ were worth $703,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Clear Street Markets LLC boosted its stake in LKQ by 94.1% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in LKQ in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in LKQ in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in LKQ by 81.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in LKQ by 228.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 647 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com lowered LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.50.

LKQ Trading Down 1.1 %

LKQ stock opened at $47.91 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $12.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 1.28. LKQ Co. has a twelve month low of $41.49 and a twelve month high of $59.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of $51.17 and a 200-day moving average of $48.36.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released 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. The company had revenue of $3.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.52 billion. LKQ had a return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 6.75%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 4.08 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.29%.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In related news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total value of $10,394,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 386,522 shares in the company, valued at $20,087,548.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.