Steven Downing Sells 35,000 Shares of Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) Stock

Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) CEO Steven Downing sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were 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 approximately $5,238,832.50. This represents a 14.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Gentex Price Performance

NASDAQ GNTX opened at $23.97 on Friday. Gentex Corporation has a twelve month low of $20.28 and a twelve month high of $29.38. The stock has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.18.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43. Gentex had a return on equity of 16.05% and a net margin of 15.19%.The company had revenue of $644.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Gentex Corporation will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 7th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 7th. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GNTX shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gentex in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $27.00 price target on shares of Gentex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Gentex from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. UBS Group set a $25.00 target price on Gentex in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $26.00 price target on Gentex in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gentex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.71.

Institutional Trading of Gentex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cambient Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Gentex during the 4th quarter worth $666,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Gentex by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 471,394 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $10,969,000 after acquiring an additional 71,114 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gentex by 63.8% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 73,115 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,549,000 after acquiring an additional 28,466 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Gentex by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 29,807 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $694,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Gentex in the fourth quarter worth about $231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

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).