Analysts Set Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) PT at $35.43

Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.4286.

GEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Gen Digital from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Gen Digital from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Gen Digital in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Gen Digital in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th.

Gen Digital Price Performance

GEN opened at $25.19 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.54 billion, a PE ratio of 27.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.14. Gen Digital has a 1 year low of $22.74 and a 1 year high of $32.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Gen Digital had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 57.09%. Gen Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. Gen Digital has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.510-2.56 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.620-0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Gen Digital will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Gen Digital’s payout ratio is 54.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 113,674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.12, for a total transaction of $3,082,838.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,932,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,662,417.60. The trade was a 2.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John C. Chrystal acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.14 per share, for a total transaction of $135,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 28,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $771,291.66. This trade represents a 21.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 9.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gen Digital

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEN. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Gen Digital during the 4th quarter valued at $1,652,000. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 18,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Gen Digital by 38,275.3% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 194,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,078,000 after acquiring an additional 194,056 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in Gen Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $340,000. Finally, Kendall Capital Management lifted its holdings in Gen Digital by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 194,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,288,000 after acquiring an additional 69,575 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

About Gen Digital

Gen Digital (NASDAQ: GEN) is a global cybersecurity company specializing in consumer- and small-business-focused security, privacy, and identity protection solutions. The company offers a suite of products designed to safeguard devices, networks, and personal information against malware, ransomware, phishing attacks and other digital threats. With a focus on user-friendly interfaces and cross-platform compatibility, Gen Digital develops antivirus software, VPN services, parental controls, password management tools, and comprehensive identity-theft monitoring services.

Gen Digital traces its origins to the consumer software division of Symantec Corporation, which was spun off in late 2019 under the NortonLifeLock name.