Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Director John Chrystal Purchases 3,000 Shares

Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) Director John Chrystal purchased 3,000 shares of Gen Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.06 per share, for a total transaction of $81,180.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 31,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $850,198.14. The trade was a 10.56% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Gen Digital Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of GEN opened at $26.28 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $21.52 and its 200 day moving average is $23.65. Gen Digital Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.78 and a fifty-two week high of $32.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.63 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 55.47%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. Gen Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. Gen Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.680-0.700 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.850-2.950 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. Gen Digital’s payout ratio is currently 31.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Argus upgraded shares of Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Gen Digital in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Gen Digital has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.29.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GEN. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Gen Digital by 45.8% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 13,094,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,567,000 after acquiring an additional 4,115,676 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 19,941,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $542,211,000 after purchasing an additional 3,640,451 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Gen Digital in the fourth quarter worth about $70,248,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 167.2% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,328,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,082,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,644,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954,712 shares during the last quarter. 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.