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

Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven investment 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 twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.6667.

A number of research firms recently commented on GEN. Argus upgraded shares of Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Gen Digital from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Gen Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th.

Insider Activity at Gen Digital

In other Gen Digital news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,332,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,987,120. The trade was a 5.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Travis Michael Witteveen sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total transaction of $882,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 496,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,608,353.90. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 630,260 shares of company stock worth $17,967,726 in the last quarter. 9.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gen Digital

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Gen Digital by 2,001.9% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 18,221,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,531,000 after purchasing an additional 17,354,503 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Gen Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at $225,169,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Gen Digital during the second quarter valued at $146,639,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Gen Digital during the second quarter valued at $108,421,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised 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 buying an additional 4,115,676 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Gen Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:GEN opened at $31.02 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $27.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.80. The firm has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.03 and a beta of 1.21. Gen Digital has a 52-week low of $17.78 and a 52-week high of $31.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 55.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. Gen Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Gen Digital has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.870-2.970 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.710-0.730 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Gen Digital will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.07%.

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.