Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) Holdings Trimmed by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System cut its holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,255 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 1,287 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Gentex were worth $2,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GNTX. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Gentex by 99,783.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,630,950 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $235,366,000 after purchasing an additional 8,622,309 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC grew its position in Gentex by 92.4% in the first quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 8,174,011 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $238,436,000 after buying an additional 3,925,355 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Gentex by 95.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,823,022 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $222,021,000 after buying an additional 3,330,502 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Gentex by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,801,402 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $103,664,000 after acquiring an additional 2,266,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Gentex during the 4th quarter worth $58,990,000. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gentex Trading Down 1.6 %

GNTX opened at $34.63 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.91. Gentex Co. has a 1 year low of $25.85 and a 1 year high of $37.58. The stock has a market cap of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.82, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.99.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.06. Gentex had a net margin of 18.63% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The firm had revenue of $589.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $563.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gentex Co. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is 26.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GNTX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gentex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Gentex from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Gentex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.67.

Insider Transactions at Gentex

In related news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total value of $204,326.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 62,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,122,491.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Gentex news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total transaction of $204,326.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 62,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,122,491.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total transaction of $446,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,365.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Gentex

Gentex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and supplies digital vision, connected car, dimmable glass, and fire protection products in the United States, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, and internationally. It operates through Automotive Products and Other segments. The company offers automotive products, including interior and exterior electrochromic automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, automotive electronics, and non-automatic-dimming rearview mirrors for automotive passenger cars, light trucks, pick-up trucks, sport utility vehicles, and vans for original equipment manufacturers, automotive suppliers, and various aftermarket and accessory customers.