Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 261,684 Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC trimmed its position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 46.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 299,257 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 261,684 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Gentex were worth $9,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Gentex by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,483,145 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $559,838,000 after purchasing an additional 93,928 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Gentex by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 21,794,462 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $610,899,000 after purchasing an additional 94,837 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC grew its position in Gentex by 92.4% in the 1st quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 8,174,011 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $238,436,000 after purchasing an additional 3,925,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Gentex by 1.5% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,886,387 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $193,025,000 after acquiring an additional 100,063 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Gentex

In other Gentex news, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total value of $446,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,365.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Gentex news, CFO Kevin C. Nash sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total value of $446,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,365.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total transaction of $204,326.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,555 shares in the company, valued at $2,122,491.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Gentex Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of GNTX stock opened at $33.68 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.30, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $35.78 and its 200 day moving average is $32.96. Gentex Co. has a 12 month low of $25.85 and a 12 month high of $37.58.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The auto parts company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $589.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $563.42 million. Gentex had a net margin of 18.63% and a return on equity of 19.25%. Gentex’s revenue was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Gentex Co. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Gentex’s payout ratio is currently 26.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on GNTX. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gentex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Gentex from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gentex currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.67.

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.