D.A. Davidson & CO. Trims Stake in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

D.A. Davidson & CO. cut its stake in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,575 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 787 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Gentex were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GNTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Gentex by 179.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,000,796 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $59,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,519 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP raised its position in shares of Gentex by 249.1% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 617,657 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $18,338,000 after acquiring an additional 440,725 shares during the period. Cidel Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Gentex during the 4th quarter worth about $11,815,000. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Gentex by 327.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 483,842 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $14,365,000 after acquiring an additional 370,746 shares during the period. Finally, Lightrock Netherlands B.V. purchased a new position in shares of Gentex in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,443,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Gentex Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ GNTX opened at $24.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.91. Gentex Co. has a 52 week low of $24.10 and a 52 week high of $37.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.96.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) last released its 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 return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 17.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GNTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $32.50 price target (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Gentex in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $31.00 price target on shares of Gentex in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Gentex from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Gentex from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.31.

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.