Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Has $34.30 Million Holdings in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership decreased its stake in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 15.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,194,000 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 215,131 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned 0.52% of Gentex worth $34,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Gentex by 179.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,000,796 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $59,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285,519 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gentex during the 4th quarter worth about $24,479,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Gentex by 66.9% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,657,397 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $47,617,000 after purchasing an additional 664,389 shares during the period. Cidel Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Gentex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $11,815,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Gentex by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,787,311 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $80,079,000 after buying an additional 386,461 shares during the period. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Gentex Trading Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ GNTX opened at $23.40 on Friday. Gentex Co. has a 1-year low of $23.27 and a 1-year high of $36.46. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.20 and a 200-day moving average of $28.06. The firm has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.30, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.90.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The auto parts company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.10). Gentex had a net margin of 17.49% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Gentex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GNTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $32.50 price objective (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Gentex in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $31.00 target price on Gentex in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim set a $30.00 price target on shares of Gentex in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Gentex from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gentex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.81.

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.