Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.3333.

GEN has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Gen Digital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Argus upgraded shares of Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th.

Gen Digital Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:GEN opened at $27.95 on Thursday. Gen Digital has a 52-week low of $17.78 and a 52-week high of $32.22. The stock has a market cap of $16.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $25.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.28.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 55.47% and a net margin of 19.46%.The company’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Gen Digital will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Gen Digital

In related news, Director John C. Chrystal bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.06 per share, for a total transaction of $81,180.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 31,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $850,198.14. This represents a 10.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.78, for a total value of $2,478,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,832,724 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,974,900.72. This trade represents a 2.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gen Digital

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,310,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,993,302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,313 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Gen Digital by 3.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,558,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $867,565,000 after buying an additional 1,015,755 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Gen Digital by 6.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 22,473,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,730,000 after buying an additional 1,406,869 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Gen Digital by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 19,941,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,211,000 after buying an additional 3,640,451 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in Gen Digital by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,644,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,336,000 after buying an additional 1,954,712 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Gen Digital Company Profile

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.