Nomura Holdings Inc. Acquires Shares of 30,178 Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 30,178 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $867,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GNTX. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gentex in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Gentex by 138.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,139 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Gentex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in Gentex by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,750 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Gentex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $96,000. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gentex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GNTX traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $21.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,781,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,802,236. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $22.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.85. Gentex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $20.28 and a fifty-two week high of $35.32.

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The auto parts company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.43. The business had revenue of $576.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.68 million. Gentex had a net margin of 17.49% and a return on equity of 16.74%. Gentex's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Gentex Co. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Gentex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 9th. Gentex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GNTX shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Gentex from $29.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Gentex from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Gentex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Gentex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price target on Gentex from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gentex news, Director Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. sold 3,764 shares of Gentex stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.87, for a total transaction of $86,082.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,939 shares in the company, valued at $135,824.93. The trade was a 38.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.