Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Purchases 2,009 Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 310,600 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,009 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC owned 0.13% of Gentex worth $10,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Gentex by 123.6% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Gentex during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Gentex by 371.3% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 2,157 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in Gentex by 283.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 3,066 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 2,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gentex in the 3rd quarter worth about $119,000. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Gentex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. B. Riley boosted their price objective on Gentex from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Gentex from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Gentex from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Gentex from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gentex news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total value of $204,326.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,122,491.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Gentex news, Director Richard O. Schaum sold 6,022 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.93, for a total value of $204,326.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,122,491.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,464,365.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Gentex Price Performance

Shares of GNTX traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $34.65. 1,597,288 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,415,282. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.68 and a 200-day moving average of $33.06. Gentex Co. has a one year low of $25.85 and a one year high of $37.58. The firm has a market cap of $8.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.09%.

Gentex Company Profile

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.