Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 623,131 Shares of Gentex Corporation $GNTX

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,724,935 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 623,131 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.90% of Gentex worth $614,816,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GNTX. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Gentex in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Gentex during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gentex in the third quarter worth approximately $65,000. Steph & Co. lifted its stake in Gentex by 30.5% during the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 2,684 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Gentex by 2,038.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,512 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 4,301 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. B. Riley Financial dropped their price target on Gentex from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $26.00 price objective on Gentex in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gentex in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $25.00 price target on shares of Gentex in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.71.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In other Gentex news, CTO Neil Boehm sold 11,248 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.82, for a total transaction of $279,175.36. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 58,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,463,163.82. The trade was a 16.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven R. Downing sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $866,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 211,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,238,832.50. This trade represents a 14.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 58,133 shares of company stock worth $1,442,313. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Gentex Price Performance

GNTX opened at $23.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.67 and a beta of 0.78. Gentex Corporation has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $29.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.12.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $644.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.90 million. Gentex had a net margin of 15.19% and a return on equity of 16.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 8th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 8th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.59%.

About Gentex

Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ: GNTX) is a global technology company specializing in the design and manufacture of automotive and aerospace products. The company’s primary business centers on automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and camera-based driver monitoring technologies. In the automotive sector, Gentex supplies exterior and interior mirrors with integrated electronics, connectivity features, and safety capabilities to many of the world’s leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).