Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 236,864 Shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Gentex Co. (NASDAQ:GNTX - Free Report) by 30.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 533,001 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 236,864 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Gentex worth $15,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Scharf Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Gentex by 36,001.4% in the 2nd quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 2,278,357 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $76,803,000 after purchasing an additional 2,272,046 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gentex by 32.6% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,963,250 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $107,033,000 after buying an additional 727,913 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Gentex by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,989,248 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $134,475,000 after acquiring an additional 489,689 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Gentex by 344.0% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 589,916 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $19,886,000 after purchasing an additional 457,054 shares during the period. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC bought a new position in Gentex in the third quarter worth approximately $8,470,000. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GNTX. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Gentex from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. B. Riley reduced their price target on shares of Gentex from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Gentex from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. BNP Paribas lowered Gentex from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $34.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Gentex from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Six research 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 has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Corp Gentex purchased 3,152,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $5.00 per share, with a total value of $15,762,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,463,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,319,040. The trade was a 95.20 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Gentex Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ GNTX traded down $0.23 on Friday, reaching $30.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,256,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,465,724. The firm has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $29.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.81. Gentex Co. has a 52 week low of $28.30 and a 52 week high of $37.58.

Gentex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Gentex's payout ratio is 25.67%.

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.